Memories of Ice
by Sigi-san
Summary: Sequel to Tears of Rain: The fight with Neel has finally come to pass and Fairy Tail is recovering, but is the fight really over? Was Neel the real enemy? What will happen when the markings finally awakens? Will our heroes be in any conditions to defend themselves when the evil is spreading? Another dark cloud is coming Fairy Tail's way and the threat is bigger than ever! [HIATUS]
1. The End of the Beginning

**_Hello everyone!_**

**_This is it, the sequel you've been waiting for! (Unless you're from the future and is coming directly from Tears of Rain, in that case, kudos to you!)_**

**_If you haven't read Tears of Rain, I recommend you do it, unless you want to be totally confused by this story. (You: What the hell happened to them? What the hell is going on now?! Who the hell is Leon?!)_**

**_Kids aside, thank you for your patience, persistence and perseverance, your courage and strength, your present and mind! (I think you get the point.) Just, Thank you for being here._**

**_I am stoked to be going further into this story with you guys and hopefully we both enjoy the ride. Well I don't think I wanna keep you any longer so go ahead and read now.. There's no more A/N, so just read.. Why are you still reading this, the story is below! Geez.._**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail with my own two hands, but maybe one day.. (MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA!)**_

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><p><em>Unknown location. Two days ago.<em>

Deep sounds of footsteps rung between the walls of a rather dark hallway. Shoes connected with the iron grid, that made up the floor. Underneath, shadows and silhouettes of walking bodies resided. They had no real pattern, they were just walking around, not knowing where to go. Big pipes, in different sizes, was plastered to the walls, all going one way, and one way only.

The rather skinny man eyed the pipes now and again, still wondering what their purpose was. The aforementioned man continued his journey down the hall that was lit up, by a series of lamps that gave off red light and the little amount of moonlight they got in through the tiny windows to the left of him.

The man's appearance was another story. His green eyes flickered nervously around, while his grip on a stack of papers got even tighter as he went on. His, short, red hair was pushed back into a tiny ponytail, keeping it from getting in his eyes, which would have been almost impossible anyway, since the glasses he wore protected him from that. His white lap coat swung at his feet, as his steps was fast, yet uncertain.

Nearing his destination, his behavior became more and more nervous and he then quickly stopped for a minute, to catch his breath. A small scar revealed itself on his lifted right hand, showing signs of old battle and fights wounds. Having sighed a deep breath, he swallowed a gathering amount of saliva and continued down the red lit hallway.

Making it to a massive iron door at the end, he once again took a deep breath and knocked. The sound of his fist slamming against the entrance, made his ears ring in pain, as the noise was loud and greatly annoying. Next the man's tired voice sounded.

"Master Vandettos, I come with a status report."

Without the slightest sign of life on the other end, the two double doors slowly, and loudly, swung open, allowing the man entrance.

The room he entered wasn't much unlike the one he had come from. Much bigger of course, but it still kept it's creepy appearance. The same iron grid floor, the same pipe covered walls. An enormous aquarium was filling out the room, covering the entire north wall in front of the red haired man. A throne-like chair was placed in front of the huge water tank, it's back towards the fairly nervous man. A fitting little, most likely mahogany table was placed beside the chair, filling out it's purpose of carrying a red vine bottle and a half empty vine glass.

"Proceed."

The deep masculine voice made the red haired man flinch so much, he almost dropped the papers in his hands. Though he held steady, keeping a firm grip on them.

"Y-Yes sir, two weeks ago, subjects 101, 108, 109, 303 and 304 got sent out on a mission to brand. As you very well know yourself sir, their main targets was 01, 02, 03, 04 and 06." The man took a break, waiting for approval to continue.

"I seem to remember there were six targets." The deep voice said, in a rather curious manner. Of course, his statement seemed to both startle and anger the man.

"O-Of course sir, but we discovered that target 07 was no longer valid." He explained. That seemed to amuse the man in the throne-like chair even more.

"And why is that, Nerov?"

The man called Nerov flinched again, as his name rung throughout the room.

"Target 07 was not a mage, sir." Nerov stated in a sigh, as he kept staring at the papers. He wanted this over with as soon as possible.

Vandettos shifted in his chair, as he reached out to grab the vine glass. He held it in his hand for minutes, thinking things through, then he studied the content of the glass by swinging it around a bit, but then stopped and spoke.

"And what happened to this target 07?" The deep voice asked, making Nerov tighten his grip on the papers. The master knew all about his connection with target 07 and apparently found it funny to torture him with that question.

"Target 07 died, sir." The red haired man stated, rather quietly.

Vandettos chuckled a deep and rather amused laugh, as he continued to study his vine glass. "That's too bad, I know how much you-"

"With all do respect sir, I would rather refrain from talking about my past." Nerov cut him off, fear and anger waving in him.

Swallowing a fair amount of vine, the master spoke again. "Very well, proceed with the report." He did not sound happy.

Nerov busied himself with finding the right page and then cleared his throat, when he found it.

"Well, after a much delayed investigation, and I deeply apologize for that, we came to the conclusion that target 03 and 04 was successfully branded, sir." Nerov stated, his voice sounding with a resentment of such magnitude towards Vandettos, he could barely contain himself.

"How did that transpire?" Vandettos asked, set on picking out every little error he could find.

"Subject 101 branded target 04 all by himself, but failed to brand target 06 in the process. Subject 303 and 304 failed to brand target 03, therefore subject 201 and 202, who was in the area, stepped in and did it." Nerov finished reading from the paper and looked to the chair facing away from him.

"I see." He placed the vine glass back on the table. Never a good sign. "Where are the targets?"

"At their homes, sir." Nerov reported and still waited for questions or permission to leave. A small bean of sweat rolled down his cheek, as the room was incredibly hot, but the master liked the warmth.

"Any problems with the counsel?" Vandettos asked, his voice portraying a bit of curiosity.

"No sir." Nerov stated, "Subject 201 took care of it all."

"Very well, the failed subjects are disposable, I say lets-" Vandettos began, but was once again rudely cut off by Nerov.

"But sir, Subject 101 was.. He was.." Nerov dived deeper down into himself, as he knew he had made a mistake.

"Are you questioning my order?" Vandettos asked, mildly amused once again.

"N-No sir, but-" This time it was Nerov's turn to be cut off.

"I get it. Since you carry such strong _attachments _towards Subject 101, I will keep him alive, but he is to remain in his capsule at all time, understood?" Vandettos gave in, all interest having left his voice.

"O-Of course! Thank you sir!" Nerov was lifted and mildly happy for the master's 'kindness'.

"You can leave now." The deep voice rung again and startled Nerov out of his thoughts.

"Yes master." Nerov bowed and then turned on his feet, proceeding towards the door. He was glad that Subject 101 would live, even if it was in a capsule.

"Oh and, the other subjects." Nerov froze at the door, having reached out for the knob. "You know the procedure, get rid of them." Vandettos' voice rang with such finality, Nerov had no chance of stating his disagreement on the matter.

"As you wish, Master." Nerov continued out the door with a sour and disgusted look on his face, leaving Vandettos to his thoughts once again. Soon, screams of pain and agony sounded throughout the building and the man who had ordered their suffering, smiled as he took another sip of his vine glass.

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><p><em>Magnolia. Present time.<em>

Cana Alberona was a peculiar woman. Not only when speaking, but also in her actions and the two often contradicted one another. Having been a member of Fairy Tail since childhood, she still hadn't told anyone of her reason to join and it still remained her secret. With the sadness and guilt for not being able to trust her guild mates enough for her to spill that information, she spent her time drinking her sorrows away. This method usually worked for her, but when it didn't she became her old self. The one who didn't speak much. The one she was right now. Not having been able to drink for two weeks, had her on serious edge. And this was all the fault of Fairy Tail's master; Makarov.

Two weeks ago she, together with her fellow guild mates, had been practically kicked out on missions, with strict orders not to show oneself in the guild for two weeks. All do the the homecoming mages with serious issues and injuries.

Gajeel had come home with several broken rips in a very dangerous area, or so they were told by the 'doctor' Micheal, who had accompanied Levy home in a hospital bed. So the big teen were assigned to a months bed rest, which was very unpleasing to him. The little bluenette, to everyone's joy, was very much alive and funnily enough, _very _worried about the iron dragon slayer. Natsu and Lucy didn't seem to have any physical wounds, but their eyes were shadows of themselves, as Natsu carried the body of the cute red haired boy, who had been there to warn them only days before. Juvia's leg was incredibly worse off, but miraculously Micheal seemed to think, no drastic measures needed to be taken and assigned her bed rest as well. Carrying the unconscious Gray, was Erza, who seemed without any injuries as well.

This is where Makarov had told everyone, that the beaten and broken wizards needed rest and a noisy, mage packed guild was not a very good treatment plan. So practically everyone had been either sent home or out on missions.

The long two weeks had finally come to pass and Cana was now on her way home.

"Cana-chan! Haven't seen you in a while, where have you been?" It was the man from the pet store, his name believed to be Kent. Cana had known him all the way since she first stepped foot in this city. The much younger Cana had seemed lost on her way to Fairy Tail and had been invited in by a teenage boy, named Kent. Kent was a good friend of hers and had been since he showed her the tiny rabbits in the window stand of his - at that time his parent's - shop, all those years ago. They had now both grown up, Kent into a middle aged man and Cana into a young woman.

"Oh hey, yeah I've been out on a mission. Sorry for not coming to visit more often." Cana let her voice portray the guilt she was feeling and shifted on her feet. They were both standing on Magnolia's main street, where shop after shop laid spread out on both sides.

"How's it going with Fairy Tail? That festival last month sure did wonders on the city." Kent spoke about the whole battle of Fairy Tail ordeal, the truth about which had yet to be announced to the public.

"Uhm yeah, we're doing fine. Some of our guys got a little hurt lately, but no biggie." She laughed all the while her head screamed; 'I am such a liar!'.

"Oh well, say hi to Makarov for me." Kent smiled and went back to work, which included feeding a rather hysterical parrot, who seemed to have developed a strange hobby of snapping at the much confused Kent.

"Will do." She answered and went on her way. Hatuzu-san, the butcher's wife waved, while Mi-chan, the waitress from the breakfast cafe mumbled a quick greeting, as she rushed off to serve Jiji-kun, the son of the town's most famous fishermen. All these people being more or less, someone Cana knew. It felt great being back in familiar surroundings with familiar people. The brunette continued her merry way up the street, saying a hurried 'hello' to Kuna-san, Kent's wife, who was on her way back from the hairdresser and now had beautiful blonde curls brushing against her back.

The Fairy Tail building did all members proud. The huge castle-like construction had taken quite a lot of time to build, but all and one thought it worth it. Some mages, mostly Natsu, had complained about the differences from the prior guild building, but even the fire mage had to admit that the structure had it's perks. The giant iron gate stood it's position in front of Cana and blocked her way. She only had to push it open slightly to slip through and made sure to close it behind her. It usually resided open, but since it had been forbidden to set a foot in the place for two weeks, no one had really left the place either. The other guild members must have been slowly coming back from their trips by now, but when Cana entered the big guild hall, only a few had made their way back.

Mirajane stood at her usual place in the bar and smiled while cleaning a glass, looking awfully lot like a bartender. The thought of booze made Cana's stomach rumble in hunger, but lot the normal one. Her hunger for alcohol lit in her and she quickly power-walked to the counter.

"Welcome home Cana." Mira smiled and handed her a mug of beer, already knowing she would ask.

"Thanks." The brunette downed the mug in seconds and silently asked for a refill. "How have things been?"

Mirajane had been one of the few, who had been allowed to stay in those two weeks. She had therefore been charged with the assignment of cooking for the patients in the sickbay, a chore she found much enjoyable.

"Fine, I guess." Mira's smile faded slightly, but she still maintained her cheerful features, all the while filling Cana's mug to the brim and sent it back. Only one problem; Mirajane never guessed. She either knew or not, so the 'I guess' comment must have come from nervousness. What did she have to be nervous about?

"The others are fine, right?" Cana felt a small panic slowly rising in her of the thought of something happening.

"Don't worry, they're fine! Or mostly fine.." Mira's smile had completely vanished and her eyes showed deep worry. She fumbled a bit with her white hair, hesitant to speak.

"Well?" Cana urged her on, not minding the guilt for pressuring her.

"Well, Natsu and Lucy spend all their time in the cemetery, god knows what they're doing all day." Mira sighed and eyed the empty mug Cana had placed in front of her. She quickly began refilling it.

Cana shifted in her chair, unsure of what to say. Natsu and Lucy was clearly still upset about the Leon boy and now spent all their time visiting him in the graveyard. Lisanna's grave being nearby probably wasn't helping in Natsu's case.

"It must be because of that kid who died." Cana voiced her thoughts, to which Mira nodded.

"Gray hasn't even woken up yet and Juvia is so worried about him, she isn't getting any sleep." Her eyes traveled to the door of the sickbay and she sighed. "She's refusing to eat as well, but on the bright side her leg is nearly healed." Gray not having awoken was bad. What could have happened to him, to make him go into such a deep sleep?

Cana couldn't comfort her, as she still didn't know what do say, so she settled with asking more questions.

"It's bad huh? How's Levy doing?"

"She's much better now." She smiled, finally finding some good news to report. "That doctor Michael sure knows his stuff, he did get beaten with a broomstick when Porlyusica stopped by though." Mira laughed quietly. "That woman is an amazing healer."

Cana agreed to that. After all, it had been Porlyusica who helped Master Makarov when he had a stroke and brought him back, good as new.

"Gajeel still needs lots of rest," Mira continued. "But he has Levy as company, so I don't think he minds that much." She smiled knowingly again.

"I can imagine." Cana smiled with her. "Then what about Erza?"

Mira's smile faded slightly once again, but she remained her positive self. "She's not really hurt, but she has been spending a lot of time alone." Mira said, refilling Cana's glass a fourth time.

As on cue, the aforementioned scarlet haired woman suddenly stepped through the massive wooden doors and walked as fast as Cana had, towards the counter. She came to an abrupt stop in front of Mirajane and cleared her throat. She then lifted her hand and gathered her red hair into a long ponytail, a look you wouldn't see her with often. Her shiny armor almost fumed with heat and Cana quickly wondered how Erza was alive.

"Mira, you think you could fetch me a glass of water?" She asked, ignoring both Mira's greeting and Cana completely.

"Of course." Mira said and busied herself with the tap.

Erza was sweating, like she had either been running for miles or training heavily, both of which she could do simultaneously.

"Productive day?" Cana asked, slightly amused by Erza's fatigue.

The red head shot her a quick glare, but answered in a somewhat calm voice. "Yeah."

"Here you go." Mira said, and handed Erza a glass of water. "Sorry if it's not cold, I usually ask Gray if he could cool down our water supply in the tanker below when necessary, but given the circumstances.." She trailed off.

Catching the meaning Erza nodded and downed the water in one go, placed the empty glass on the counter and sighed.

"Mind of I go in there? I wanna check on Gray." She then asked and eyed the door to the sickbay.

"Not at all." Mira smiled sadly.

"Can I go with her? I wanna say hi to everybody." Cana asked Mira, but looked at Erza who had already started her journey towards the room.

"Go ahead."

At the permission, Cana left her half empty mug and followed Erza.

The sickbay was a sad excuse for a room. Everybody visible had this gloomy expression on their face and Cana was pretty sure her own face was showing depression as well. Erza had already made a left turn towards an area hidden behind white curtains further down the room. Deciding to visit Levy and Gajeel first, Cana made a right turn in the other direction.

Coming to an equally hidden area, Cana shoved the white curtains out of the way, revealing a sleeping Gajeel on the other side. The brunette eyed him for a minute, until a small voice interrupted her.

"Cana-san?"

Cana's eyes met with Levy, who was laying in the bed next to Gajeel's with a surprised look on her face. She then visibly relaxed and her eyes turned welcoming.

Shooting Gajeel a quick glance, Cana proceeded to Levy's bed with a smile playing on her lips.

"Hey Levy, how are you doing?" The brunette took a hold of the end railing of the smaller teen's bed and watched her trying to sit up. Cana didn't miss the flinch of pain washing over Levy's features for a slight second, but decided not to comment on it.

"I'm okay." Levy said shortly, settling into a sitting position.

"Okay." Cana finished quite awkward, her body screaming for alcohol yet again. "How's Gajeel?"

On cue Gajeel released a giant snore and tumbled over on his side, his back towards the girls. His long black hair was messy and laid loosely over his shoulder, creating a dark curtain over his face. His metal piercings shined now and again when the light hit them just right and a bit of sweat grazed his forehead. His black eyelashes vibrated, showing signs of being disturbed, but by the sudden silence of the two girls, he fell back into the abyss of sleep.

Levy chuckled lightly and ran her hand through her blue hair. "As you can see, he's fine. He did come down with a fever yesterday though, hence the sweating."

"I see." Cana dug her hand into the pockets of her jeans and sighed happily. "Well I'm just glad you're alright."

"We are, but I'm worried about Gray and Porlyusica-san won't let me out of bed to check on him." Levy sighed.

"I can check for you." Cana suggested and smiled when Levy's face lit up.

"That would be amazing Cana-san!" the bluenette said thankfully, but lowered her voice when Gajeel turned in his bed again. "Thank you." She whispered.

Cana nodded. "I'll come back later."

Carefully placing the curtain back, Cana sighed and made her way towards Gray's bed in the other end of the room. Erza was already there, her eyes portraying worry as she looked at the scene in front of her.

Gray was laying motionless in his bed, his face pale white. His black bangs brushed against his eyelids and covered his sweaty forehead. His right arm was hidden away under the covers, while his left was being held by a very distraught looking Juvia. The bluenette had entwined her hand in his, while she kept staring at his face. She looked awful. Her body was shaking, yet unclear if by lack of food or the cold. The black rings under her eyes indicated she hadn't slept in days, but her blue orbs were determined and hopeful. Cana didn't know how long she had been staring before Erza spoke.

"Juvia, you really should get some rest." The red head's voice sounded worried.

Juvia didn't take her eyes off Gray as she spoke. "His hand is so cold."

Erza looked lost for words, she had no idea how to cheer Juvia up. They weren't the best of friends, but she still cared. She knew nothing could make Juvia let go of Gray and she wasn't about to be the one who forced her, but sooner or later someone would have to.

Juvia didn't care who it was, no one could make her walk out of this room without Gray. He had been unconscious for two weeks now and she missed him terribly. She missed his smiles, his warm eyes and just him talking. Yes, he had sometime ignored her and her feelings, but she didn't care about that now. That was just how he was, unable to face his true feelings. If he had any feelings for her at all, which she didn't know. She just wanted him to wake up and say something to her.

A shiver ran through her and she tried shaking it off, but it continued, making her panic slightly. How many days had it been since she slept? She couldn't remember. When did she last eat something? She struggled to keep a hold on Gray's hand, which ironically enough, was cold as ice. Her eyes threatened to close and she was angry at her body for not doing as she told it to and just stay awake.

For a split second, she thought she felt his hand tighten in hers, but she was shaking to much to be sure if that small sensation, in fact was from Gray.

Cana shifted back and forth on her feet, unsure of what to do or say, but she did try to convince Juvia to eat something. A request she knew, surely would be rejected. Which it was and the room once again went back to it's slightly awkward silence. Cana inched closer to Erza and whispered to her.

"What are we gonna do about her? She's killing herself."

Erza looked at Cana for a weird second. "I suppose, if she doesn't eat within the hour, we'll be forced to sedate her."

"Yeah, but.. Doesn't that seem a little-"

"Thank god." Juvia cut her off, her hoarse voice portraying relief and happiness. Both Cana and Erza snapped their heads in her direction.

"Juvia was so worrie-" Juvia instantly fell asleep, her head landing on Gray's bedside, the teen of which was so obviously waking up.

The dark haired mage's eyes fluttered open and seemed out of focus for a while. After a couple of minutes his irises gained life and his stare met with Erza's worried, yet relieved features. He then swallowed a gathering amount of saliva and moved his eyes to Juvia by his side. Her hand was still in his, but he didn't seem to mind it right now. Either that, or he was just to tired to remove her.

"Hmmmm." Gray let out a voiced sigh, likely testing his vocal cords. When he was satisfied, he spoke. "What happened?"

_Now that, I wanna know too! _Cana thought to herself lively, as Gray touched his forehead, while slightly tightening his grip on Juvia's hand.

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><p><strong><em>Yes I ended the first chapter with hand holding! Aw come on, it's cute xI<em>**

**_Now, you have a decision to make. Will you read further chapters or not? (Personally I think you should, but it's not my funeral- I mean regret that's gonna come out of it if you don't.)_**

**_Feel free to drop a review, or two, or three. Also, If you find some grammar and/or spelling mistakes, then screw it! Because of Fanfiction's new 'No copying' update (Which was about time) I can not copy my own chapter to change a few things. (Which is also why I haven't been able to edit the earlier chapters of Tears of Rain, without having to rewrite the whole thing)_**

**_I don't know when Chapter two is coming out, but keep your eyes, ears and mouth open for when it does. And have you heard?! Fairy Tail the anime is continuing in April! It's gonna be epic!_**

**_Oh well, I will leave you to your own thoughts now. Fare well on your path and remember to look both ways before crossing the street._**

**_Sigi-san signing out!_**


	2. His Last Name

**_Chapter 2! You're welcome ;)_**

**_I wanna thank you guys for the reviews, it made me so happy and complete inside :D_**

**_With that said, enjoy!_**

**_Disclaimer: Would I be writing fanfictions, if I owned the whole thing?_**

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><p>It took some time for the confused Gray to be fully aware of what was going on around him. He didn't register when Michael examined him, nor when Mirajane offered him food. He just sat there, impatiently awaiting to be able to talk to either Erza or someone who knew what the hell happened to him.<p>

"Will you cut it out already! I'm fine!" He snapped at last and slapped Michael's hand away from his face.

"Well, at least we know he's energetic." Michael sighed with a smile, making Gray roll his eyes in annoyance.

The ice mage frowned at his guild mates, who by all means were ecstatic that he had awoken. His hand still resided in Juvia's, which owner was still fast asleep. Gray felt the need to wake her, so they could talk, but when he reached out to try, his hand was stopped by Erza.

"Don't, she needs it." Erza let his other hand go and looked down to the sleeping water mage. "She hasn't slept at all lately." She told him, which just served to confused him even more.

Why hadn't Juvia slept? And what did she mean lately, it was only a couple of days ago they came home, right?

Mirajane, who had entered the room rather fast when she heard of Gray's awakening - All with a plate of food -, quickly got tired of everyone's talking and sighing, so she hushed them all and almost shoved them out the door. The only ones remaining were Erza, the sleeping Juvia, Gray in his bed and Mira herself. Even Cana had been rushed out, much to her displeasure.

"So? Is someone gonna tell me what the hack is going on or not?!" Gray fussed and frowned deeply.

"Well Gray, what you gotta understand is that we've been really worried about you and is just thrilled you woke up, okay?" Mira tried calming him down, obviously to no avail as he just sighed heavily and looked to Erza, waiting for her to say something.

"It's been awhile since we came back." Erza stated, getting right to the point.

"Huh?" Gray raised an eyebrow at her, blaming her slightly for his confusion. "What are you saying?"

"Two weeks to be exact and you have been unconscious since then." She ignored his question and let her words sink in, as she shifted on her feet, still tired from her vicious training earlier that day.

"Wait wait wait, so you're telling me; we rescued Juvia two weeks ago and I've been unconscious since then?!" Gray's eyes were wild, as he threw his free hand through his hair. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm sorry Gray." Mira said, feeling the need to apologize.

"What happened then?! To Neel?! And-" Gray was freaking out until he quickly looked down to Juvia, which made him freeze in place, only now noticing how tired and frail she looked. "And what's wrong with Juvia?" He questioned calmly.

Erza looked to Mira, so did Gray.

"Well, since you've been down for so long, Juvia was really worried about you." Mira stated explaining. "She stayed up every night, just so she could be there if you finally decided to open your eyes."

"So she hasn't slept for two weeks?!" Gray sounded angry, but did not know at who.

"She did get her occasional five minutes or so, but basically no sleep at all really." Mira looked uncomfortable somehow, but swallowed the feeling raw. "That's not all though."

"There's more?!" Gray was furious, but still did not know who to direct his anger towards.

"Yes well, she hasn't exactly been eating much either." She quickly continued, dodging Gray's glare. "She told us; if you - Gray - didn't eat, then neither would she."

"Are you stupid?! Just force her then! How could you just let her starve herself?!" Gray didn't feel particularly proud of insulting Mirajane, but he was a little to angry to care right now, he would apologize later.

Neither Mira nor Erza had an answer for him, they just stood there watching Gray's angry, yet worried features.

"What about the others?! What happened after that?" Gray continued, not wanting to start a further argument.

As both Mira and Erza explained things to him, he became more or less angry. As he was told about Levi's recovering his frown lessened a little, but when he was told about Natsu's preference of the graveyard, it came right back full force. It all sounded like a story, a telling of someone else's life. A stranger who had nothing to do with him and his friends.

"And Juvia's leg?" He questioned them, remembering how bad in shape it had been.

"Almost fully healed, though Michael did say it would have gone faster if she had-" Mira got japped in the rips mid-sentence. Erza had stopped her from completing it, well knowing it would just rile Gray up yet again.

Not noting it, Gray let out a frustrated sigh and settled down in his bed once again, his hair messing out on the pillow. If only he had been awake. Juvia would have eaten and slept, Natsu and Lucy probably wouldn't be so obsessed with Leon's demise and he could have helped them all through it. Just like they in return, would help him through his none existing injuries. That was the weird part though, why had he been down for so long? The last he remembered was an agonizing pain in his head and then everything went black. That could have been equivalent to a blow to the head, from which you would normally awake a couple of days later, max. Yet he had been unconscious for two whole weeks, so what could have created that short term coma?

"We need to get her into a bed." Mira said to Erza, while eyeing Juvia's exhausted form.

"You're right." Erza responded and moved towards the water mage. With help from Mira, they both got the bluenette into a bed next to Gray's. Juvia looked pale and as worrying as that was, the two females was still more focused on the awakened ice mage.

Gray on the other hand, wasn't even looking at them. Having gotten up and into a sitting position once again, the dark haired teen was staring at his hand. It felt oddly cold after Juvia's touch had vanished. Gray usually welcomed the cold, liked it even, but now that same feeling had turned into one of loneliness and dread. Why did he feel like that? It was weird, really.

"Now, you have to eat this." Mirajane said, breaking Gray out of his thoughts. She was holding a bowl of suspiciously green, steamy soup. One which did not appeal to Gray's appetite what so ever. He knew however, that if he hadn't eaten decent food in two weeks, his body needed the necessities in the forest green substance. So he downed the bowl quickly, surprised by it's rich taste.

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><p>The wind flowed violently through his hair, messing up his bangs. It didn't face him even in the slightest, but it did however serve in making him stare harder at the stone in front of him. The sun baked down from above, making him slightly sweat from his pores, but not even that made him show any acknowledgement of the world around him. He had spent his time earlier walking back and fourth between this place and his other friend who needed his thoughts. Now he was stuck, like he had been so many times before, these past two weeks. Nothing changed, it was routine that drove him. Friends from the guild would spontaneously stop by once in a while, but they never stayed long. Probably do to his gloomy attitude. He wished to break free, to go back and live his life, but every single time he tried to leave, his conscience would make him feel like he was betraying them. They deserved better. He barely went home anymore, but he didn't see that as much of a big deal. His house was as messy as ever and he hadn't planned on cleaning it even if he wasn't stuck here wandering about. So it wasn't that.<p>

His thoughts went to Lucy, who was probably crying her eyes out right that moment. It didn't sit well with him, having her suffering like that, but he had no comforting words to share, so he just left her alone for the time being. The fire mage heaved a deep sigh, where he for the fifth time that day, stepped forward and let his fingertips feel the rough stone in the ground. The touch made his jaw tighten and he felt like growling as a dog. His thumb brushed past one of the letters and reminded him how small a number there actually was. Four letters, that's all. That once again didn't seem fair.

The pink haired boy looked around on all the other gravestones. All of them home to various of loved ones, all of whom had their full name written on their tomb. Not the kid however.

It was strange. Natsu had only known the fifteen year old for a couple of days and yet, that had been enough to make him care for the boy as a friend. It was odd, how much his death affected the fire mage and how angry it made him. He didn't know who to blame, Signe? She had dealt the fatal blow and killed him. Leon? The kid had sacrificed himself, like it didn't matter. Or maybe himself? He had been the one who wasn't strong enough to protect his friend and now Leon was paying the price.

A twig snapped somewhere behind Natsu, but the fire mage had felt this presence so many times in his life, he knew who was standing there without even looking.

"So, here you are again Natsu."

The pink haired boy let his hand drop from Leon's headstone and turned to look at his visitor.

"Been spending an awful lot of time here lately, haven't we?" The man asked in a calm, yet caring tone. A warm breeze took hold of the trees around them and made the leaves whisper a wind-full song.

Natsu remained silent in his company, but turned to look at the kid's resting place once again. It had been hard to convince the church to let him be buried here. They believed; since he wasn't from this area, he should be buried in his own town, but since they would get the entire Fairy Tail guild on their case if they refused, they caved in and held a burial.

"Master, am I in the wrong?" Natsu suddenly asked the old man by his side.

Makarov looked up at his child and spoke wisely. "Both yes and no."

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked hastily, a little cross about not getting a clear answer.

"You are not wrong in sticking by your friend and respecting him, even in death. You are however wrong, when you neglect your living family of friends, who are worried about you and your well being." The master said.

Natsu sighed again. "I've tried to walk away."

"I know and I really didn't think I would've had to say this to you Natsu, but do you really think the kid would be happy seeing you torture yourself like this?" Makarov asked seriously.

"Probably not." Natsu commented and couldn't help but notice, how out of character he was being.

"So what is bothering you?" The old man asked, while scratching his bald spot.

"I didn't even know his last name." Natsu stated and fisted his hands. "I didn't know anything about him."

Makarov stayed silent.

"He didn't know me and yet.. He threw his life away to save me." Natsu entwined his hands together in fear of hitting something. He then spun around looking desperately at his master. "Why would he do that?! I don't understand."

"I think Leon considered you his friend." The master answered calmly despite Natsu's panicked voice.

"I was nothing but mean to him, so why..?" Natsu tailed off, not knowing how to complete his sentence.

"You don't have to understand, but you have to accept that he's gone." The old man advised and patted a comforting hand on Natsu's hip, not being tall enough to reach the teen's shoulder. "Be st-"

"Strong?" Natsu finished and shook his head. " I know, but I'm tired." He sighed.

"Then rest for now and come back even stronger." Makarov said firmly.

Natsu didn't answer, but the master knew he had sparked something in the young fire mage. He left it at that and cleared his throat.

"So, where's Lucy?"

"At her apartment." Natsu said.

"I think I'll pay her a visit too." Makarov smiled and started to exit the graveyard. "Come home soon, okay?!" He called over his shoulder and vanished as quickly as he had come.

Natsu's eyes were still focused on Leon's grave, but a small smile played on his lips, an action he hadn't done in weeks.

* * *

><p><em>Two days later.<em>

Gray sighed, while slightly kicking the floor. He was having a hard time sitting still on one of the bar stools, so he had taken to standing against the counter instead. Mirajane eyed him nervously, fearing he might fall over anytime. Elfman, who had returned from his mission the day before, had been placed two chairs away from said ice mage, ready to catch him if he did so happen to faint. Gray had noticed this, but decided not to comment on it. However irritating it may be, he still owed Mira an apology for the other day and he wasn't about to add to his guilty conscience.

Natsu was sitting in a corner, whispering a conversation with Erza and Gray would be lying if he said, he wasn't slightly curious about what they were talking about. Lucy was doing physical therapy with Levy, who was slowly beginning to walk again, by moving in a circle around the guild hall. Every time they passed Gray's grumpy face, Levy made sure to give him a smile, attempting to cheer him up. It didn't work as well as it was supposed to, as the dark haired teen stayed as moody as when the day began.

He couldn't really explain his bad mood, all he knew was that he had woken up that day, been refused to visit Juvia, stalked by fellow guild mates - all convinced he would fall over by the smallest little task - and was bored out of his mind. Okay, so maybe he _could_ explain his sour attitude.

A loud crash made Gray snap his head in the direction of the sickbay. Gajeel had at that particular moment, kicked the door in and was roaring insults to everyone who got in his way. Mira was immediately starting towards the big teen, who never saw her coming.

"Gajeel- kun, get back in your bed right now!" The whitette ordered him firmly. "If you move around too much, you might make you injuries worse!"

"Screw that! I'm tired of laying around all day!" Gajeel sneered back at her.

Mira was having none of it and quickly took hold of Gajeel's arm, trying to force him back into the room of which he came. The girl was stronger then she looked, which made Gajeel fall backwards when she started pulling. The iron mage landed safely on his back, his eyes blinking as he was trying to figure out what just happened.

"Gajeel!" Levy called out, her voice portraying slight worry. She and Lucy was making their way towards the pair, when the front door got slammed open.

Gray's first thought was; why was it that no one could just enter the building normally? They all had to slam the giant front door open. His second thought, was that the guys who were entering the guild at this very moment, weren't looking for pleasantries.

"We do not wish to fight, bring fourth your master this instance!"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hello again ^^<em>**

**_So, this chapter wasn't as long as the previous one, but just as good? right? That's for you to decide, I stand by my story no matter what :)_**

**_As I said in my last A/N, I'm super stoked for the continuation of Fairy Tail the anime, which is to air in April! Just for the ones who didn't know :D_**

**_I've gone in complete Fairy Tail mode to get this chapter out. I have all episodes on my computer, which I have been watching again and I have all the soundtracks as well, which I've been listening to while trying to write this. It worked though._**

**_I bought myself a ps3 (I don't really know why I'm telling you guys this, but someone has know)_**

**_I guess I'm done for now and I'll be back with chapter 3 as soon as possible._**

**_Reviews are always appreciated (and longed for), so drop one if you feel so inclined._**

**_Sigi-san has approved this message ;)_**


	3. The Tenshi Guard

_**Chapter 3 Ladies, gentlemen and others!**_

_**I have now once again overcome my writers block in a single night and wrote 3/4 of this chapter in the last two hours -.-**_

_**Don't get me wrong, I enjoy writing, but when I think ahead in the story and picture all the things that need explaining and all the things I need happening, It just tires me out a bit. I don't know why I do it, but if I don't plan ahead, I might ruin this, so I'll have to live with it.**_

_**April is coming closer and closer and I'm super stoked xI**_

_**Well, that's all from me now and I hope you enjoy the chapter and drop a review if you feel so inclined.**_

_**Disclaimer: Do I really have to do this? Oh alright -.- I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters, all credit goes to their respectful owners. There! Happy?!**_

* * *

><p>A cold chill of air rushed through the room before anyone reacted to what had just conspired.<p>

The guy who had spoken was quite a big fellow. His brown hair was swept away from his face and back into a small ponytail. He had well maintained brown stubble on his sharp chin, while his cheekbones and face had a masculine form. He wore a thick sliver armour around his torso and dark pants to match. At his hip, hung a large sword, fitting for his knight in armour image. His brown eyes searched the room.

On his right side was quite a different man. Smaller then the two, he stood proudly. The man wasn't very tall, but much more muscular then the first. His black hair reached the top of his ears, while his bangs were almost none existent. Instead of armour, this man wore a dim green fabric shirt, but identical dark pants. Despite the outspoken man's foul mood, the shorter one was smiling and looking much like he was enjoying himself.

Behind the two men were a whole group of men, all dressed in horrible yellow suits, a color that did not suit any of them.

Surprisingly it was Mirajane who was the first to act. She had quickly rounded the counter, made her way past Gray and now stood her ground in front of the big leader figure.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, how may I help you?" She asked awfully polite, while smiling her most business-like smile.

"You could fetch your boss, that might be an idea." The smaller of the two strangers said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"There's no reason to be rude Taizou, the girl was trying to be helpful." The more broad looking man scolded his companion slightly.

Not noting the harm in Taizou's voice, Mirajane continued to smile. "May I ask what it is about?"

"Oh right, My Name is Tanarou Hanshin and I'm certain your master will be familiar with my status." The tall one stated rather confidently, while sending Mira going with just a look.

Multiple guild members complained internally, not appreciating how he treated Mirajane.

It didn't take long before Makarov stood in front of the strangers, oddly enough with a smile on his face.

"Tanarou old friend! It's been far too long!" The master exclaimed loudly, while having trouble shaking the man's hand do to his short height.

Tanarou smiled politely as well. "That we can agree upon."

"How's Keir?" Makarov asked, only few knowing who he was referring to.

"He's currently on a mission a little out west, but strong and healthy as always." Tanarou spoke, pride shining through his voice.

Several youngsters had made their way to the scene, Gray being one of them. Feeling a need to vent his anger of the day, he turned to Makarov. "Forgive me for asking master, but who the hell are these guys?"

"Forgive us for coming unannounced, but a situation has arised." Tanarou stated, looking at the master with serious eyes.

"Not at all, it must be serious if you risk coming here." Makarov said, all the while ignoring Gray's question.

"It has come to my attention that some of your young ones has recently been in contact with-" Tanarou started, but got interrupted by Makarov.

"Not here." He whispered and gently took hold of Tanarou's arm, leading him towards the sickbay. He discretely asked Natsu, Erza, Gray, Levy, Gajeel and Lucy to come along quietly. Taizou went along too, for whatever reason. The entire guild followed them with their eyes and Gray was sure that as soon as the door closed behind them, they all fought for a place at the other side, just to listen in.

"These here are the guild members of which I speak?" Tanarou looked around on all the teens' faces, his own features falling a little as he eyed their injuries.

"Indeed they are. Now, what is this situation you speak of?" Makarov's serious eyes were turned to the tall man.

Before Tanarou had a chance of opening his mouth, Gray had swiped past him, setting course for Juvia's resting area. He had a tying knot in his stomach and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He didn't exactly understand this strange feeling of uneasiness, but ignored it none the less as he reached Juvia's bed. She was still fast asleep, but some color had returned to her cheeks, which calmed Gray down immensely.

The others were looking at him, Natsu with a look of confusion, Makarov with one of understanding. Gray didn't care what they thought, which was strange considering all he had done in the past to make sure none of them thought there was anything at all going on between him and the water mage. Now they could think what they wanted, as long as he got to be there for her.

The realization shocked him greatly. Was that what he wanted? To be near Juvia? He had never thought that in the past. Granted him and Juvia hadn't known each other for that long, he still felt oddly protective of her. He had thought her to be annoying and clingy, but experiencing her being gone from his side was too horrible and painful. He had missed her on-comings and rambles in the three or so days she'd been with Neel. The thought of his doppelganger brought anger to his mind. What had he been doing to Juvia in those three days she had been in his custody? How had he made her forget all that's important to her?

"Ah, young love." Tanarou sighed, a small smile housing on his lips. His words brought Gray back to the situation at hand and made him think extra carefully about his previous thoughts.

"No I-" Gray made to deny his statement, but Tanarou held up his hand, successfully silencing the teenager.

"No need to explain, I get it." The broad man said, a shadow of grief washing over his eyes, but gone the next second, making Gray wonder if it had been his imagination.

The ice mage saw no point in arguing, so he let the subject go and looked at Makarov, prompting him to continue his earlier interrogation.

"Tanarou, I got the impression that you were in a hurry." The guild master said, feeling a little bad about rushing his old friend.

"You're right Makarov. As I said, I've heard about your recent incidents down south and I would have come sooner, but it took some time gathering all of my men." Tanarou said, the seriousness shining through again. "Judging from your children's injuries, I have now come to a conclusion. You mustn't engage in combat with this foe any further, you're in over your head this time, old friend."

Makarov seemed confused by Hanshin's words and spoke thereof. "You make no sense, are you warning me?"

"I must Makarov, you don't know what you're getting yourself or your guild members into." Tanarou's voice was deadly serious, enough to send a shiver down both Lucy and Levy's spine.

"What do you know?" The master's voice shifted into a suspicious tone.

"It's classified information, I'm sorry." Tanarou's words clearly angered Makarov, as his eyes shined dangerously.

"One of my children almost died in this clash, I deserve to know who committed this violent act against my guild." The master's voice was as deadly as Tanarou's had been just seconds before, which only served in making all the teens in the room shudder by the tone.

"Didn't you hear him, it's none of your business!" Taizou suddenly said, making all look at him as they had forgotten he was even in the room.

"Taizou-" Tanarou began, but got cut off.

"No Commander, I will not stand for this man being rude and suspicious of you!" Taizou stated and crossed his arms defiantly.

"Stand down, it's an order." The broad man said to his companion.

Taizou, being much unwilling in doing so, cursed under his breath and backed away. "As you wish."

"I'm sorry Makarov, but I really can't tell you this without proper authorization from the counsel." Tanarou continued.

"And I'm sorry for forcing your hand like this, but you owe me, remember?" Makarov was intent on getting his way no matter what, even if it meant calling on this favor now.

"Commander!" Taizou yelled, no longer able to hold his tongue.

"It's alright Taizou." Tanarou assured his second-in-command, not taking his eyes off Makarov. "He's right, I do."

"Very well, I assume you're familiar with a certain dark guild by the name of Codename?" Tanarou sighed, having given up on arguing with the guild master.

Makarov eyes widened in shock, but managed to frown at the same time. "Codename?! You cannot be serious!"

Gray's brain quickly went into overdrive. Who was Codename and why did the master seem so surprised by this name?

"I'm afraid so, we have been investigating them for a while now, but this is the first time they've taken direct action against a guild." Tanarou explained.

"Wait wait wait, so who are you guys again?" Natsu suddenly asked, his face portraying confusion.

"Right I forgot, Natsu, everyone, this is Commander Tanarou Hanshin of The Tenshi Guard, they're an undercover investigation group consisting of non-mages." Makarov announced.

"Almost non-mages, my son Keir was gifted with magical powers at a young age." Tanarou explained, the same pride flowing through his voice as he spoke of his child.

"The Tenshi Guard? Never heard of them." Gajeel stated, looking at Taizou with suspicion.

"The key word being 'undercover'." Taizou smirked back at Gajeel, who cussed under his breath.

"Back on topic, your group of teenagers here, unfortunately came in contact with a few of their members." Tanarou said, eyeing Taizou a glare.

"But they would never let their members roam free, I even heard their master call his members by numbers." Makarov stated, clearly against the whole idea.

Tanarou cleared his throat, making Gajeel and Taizou stop glaring at each other. "Subject 101 was clearly acting on orders."

"Subject 101?" Erza voiced her confusion.

"Oh right, I believe he otherwise goes by the name Neel." Tanarou explained.

Gray sprung to his feet after having kneeled by Juvia's bedside, his head swirling by the mention of that name. "Neel?! He was apart of this dark guild?!" He asked ferociously.

"Wait, how do you know what number he goes by?" Erza asked, still lost.

"I'll get to that. Subject 101 had a strange power, so did all of his companions and we've been trying to figure out how they came in possession of those powers, since they were clearly not magical." Tanarou continued. "It was said that Subject 101's particular power held a strong force over memories and he could manipulate them to his will, making even the best of friends, deadly enemies."

It clicked in gray's mind, so that's how he did it. Neel turned Juvia against him by tampering with her memories of him, making her hate him enough to kill him.

"Through a very detailed investigation, we've deducted that Codename is a very scientific guild." Tanarou stated.

"Scientific?" Lucy asked, her voice small in their company.

"Indeed, a high ranking member of Codename has been tasked with scientifically inducing supernatural powers in ordinary kids and raising them to believe in their cause. Sometimes of course, adults are taken in as well."

Some shifted on their feet in anger. "Kidnapping kids, really?" Natsu sneered.

"Calls himself Creator, a bit arrogant of him really." Taizou said, his smirk coming back full force.

"We believe that Subject 101 used his power on his fellow guild members, making them think that _he _was the one who granted them their powers and that he was some sort of god." The brown haired man explained.

"But how does this 'Creator' create these powers in children?" Makarov asked.

Tanarou's eyes landed on the master yet again. "That, we do not know."

"Okay, and how do you know all this?" Gray asked, his tone displaying anger, though not _at_ anyone.

"Taizou here," Tanarou held his hand out towards his subordinate, who clearly liked the attention. "Has infiltrated the enemy ranks and gotten himself quite a high role."

"This idiot's a spy?" Gajeel let slip out and judging by his facial expression, that thought had been one he wanted to have kept to himself. Taizou responded to his insult with a death glare, not far from jumping the big teen.

"Within Codename, he goes by Subject 201 and has been feeding us intel for about three years already." Tanarou explained.

"Three years?!" Levy burst out, admiration clear in her tone.

"And counting." Taizou smirked, letting his fingernails brush against his chest arrogantly.

"But why? Why would anyone want to do that?" Erza asked.

"Once again, we come up empty. Even with Taizou in a high position, the master has not told him of his plans, which leads us to wonder why they bothered to pick a fight with you guys." Tanarou answered with a thoughtful look on his face.

"That does seem rather odd." Makarov voiced his thoughts.

"Maybe it was just because Neel knew Juvia personally?" Gray suggested.

"I can't see the master of Codename giving a mere foot soldier free rein because of a personal vendetta, no it must have been something beneficial to him." Tanarou shot down the idea.

A muffled sound rang in the sudden silence of the thoughtful group. Gray snapped his head around, quite possibly injuring his neck in the process, only to see an awakening Juvia in her bed. He quickly rushed to her side once more, unconsciously taking a hold of her hand.

"Gray-sama? Everyone? What's going on?" Her tired voice asked, as all eyes in the room was on her at that moment.

"Don't worry, we were just discussing theories." Gray answered her in a gentle voice, one quite out of character for him.

"Juvia doesn't know these people." She stated, her eyes locked on Tanarou and Taizou.

"I know, but they're here visiting the master." Gray explained calmly, unknowingly to himself, entwining his fingers with hers.

"Let's give them some time alone." Makarov suggested. "We'll continue this in my office."

Gray didn't even notice them leaving, nor did he see Lucy's knowing smile and Gajeel's discrete thumbs up to Juvia. He just smiled and unfortunately got hopefully lost in her deep blue eyes.

Once again he got confused by the feelings rushing up inside him. He had never really felt this way before and when his heartbeat sped up he knew there was no way back. What did he want to do? The protective thoughts circled around in his already full brain. He was well aware that Juvia could take care of herself, she was quite strong on her own and didn't need his protection or monopoly, but he could feel them on the inside of his rip cage, fighting to get out. What would happen if he let them out? Would she be happy or annoyed with him? Why did he feel like this anyway? Never before had he had these feelings and thoughts for Juvia and had found her quite annoying in the past. When had she worked herself under his skin? When had he started to actually like her romantically aggressive attacks?

While this was running through his head, his free hand had traveled to her face, where he brushed a lock of blue hair out of her eyes. A gentle touch, one that made his stomach flip a turn. Her blue orbs were looking at him in confusion, but they held none of the anger he had witnessed two weeks ago. They looked at him with such beauty, he had to avoid her stare, lest he would do something probably immoral. Without noticing, he had leaned down closer to her face, his upper body floating above her's, as she was still fully laying down, only her covers separating them. A small blush formed on her cheekbones when she noticed this fact. His feet were still on the floor, as he sat on the edge of her bed, his body twisted at the hip.

For the second time in his life, Gray felt Juvia's breath on his lips, being only inches apart from making that everlasting connection. Was this it? Did he really want to do this? His mind screamed yes, but his judgement was shaky on the matter. She had closed her eyes, revealing her long lashes and Gray felt an odd need to touch them. He refrained from doing so, but his free hand balled itself into a fist beside her head, as his elbow was the only thing keeping him from falling on top of her. He sighed, as he carefully searched through his brain for reasons not to do it. His thumb caressed her fingers in his hand, an action he was doing unconsciously.

When he came up empty in his search, he sighed once more. He had no reason not to, so what the hack. He started to lean in further, when he got interrupted by an unexpected pain. His forehead was burning in agonizing pain, just as it had been two weeks ago. He tore himself away from Juvia and fell to the floor, where he screamed out in pain. His right elbow complained by the fall, but the pain in his forehead preoccupied his attention so much, he didn't even notice. Juvia had gotten on her feet, flinching a little from the pain in her leg, but she dropped by Gray's side anyway.

"Gray-sama?! What's the matter?!" She screamed too, just to overdo his painful cry. Seeing him in such agony quickly brought tears to her eyes and she proceeded with calling for help, but oddly enough, none came. The reason for this was that, unknown to both of them, Erza had collapsed with the same problem and was also screaming out in pain in the next room.


	4. I Think You Forget

It was always quiet until it wasn't. Always peaceful until it wasn't. The doctor knew it was coming without even looking to his side. He knew that now he was in for a wave of irritation and quite possibly pain. Why had he agreed to work here again? Sure enough, only a second after that very thought crossed his mind, the door far to the right of him, was kicked in with such force, the metal object simple gave up and hung loosely from it's hinges.

"Can't you enter a door normally?" The man calling himself Creator sighed his question. "You literally leave a trail of broken doors behind you."

"So, this is what's become of you." Mahan mocked, his face split by a menacing grin as he ignored the man's comment. The light of his hair rustling as he walked by an air puffing vent in the wall at his side, he neared the doctor. The dark blonde's company tore his eyes from the water tank he had been so infatuated with and locked them on the nearing subject.

"What are you talking about, Subject 202?" Nerov countered, his voice displaying the same venom. Both the men resided in Nerov's lab at that very moment, one scorn over his boredom, the other mesmerized by the younger boy floating around inside the liquid filled capsule hanging from the wall.

"Why do you spend your days rotting away in here? Is it because of 101?" The thought seemed to amuse Mahan even more, as the red head's face twisted into an expression of disgust.

"It has nothing to do with Neel!" Nerov sneered, unable to control his tone of voice.

"Neel? Since when do you refer us by first name?" Mahan asked, his smirk remaining, yet his eyes portraying confusion.

Nerov knew he had revealed more than he was comfortable with, which is why he turned away from Subject 202 and continued watching the clearly defeated teen within the tanker. Neel's foot had been unsalvageable and he would most likely not walk normally again. It pained Nerov slightly, thoughts of how he could have done more, how he could maybe have saved his foot if he just.. He didn't know why he felt that way particularly, it was the first time he had gotten this close to a test subject.

"Oh I get it, it's because of your son, isn't it?" Mahan teased again, making Nerov flinch.

"W-What are you-!" Nerov started, but got cut off.

"Yeah, 101 was the only one who got to learn of your real name!" 202 continued, enjoying the doctor's reactions. "What, you wanted to feel like a father once more?"

"Stop.." It was barely a whisper.

"You regret what happened with your son, don't you?" Mahan laughed, having found a source of amusement.

"How you do you know?!" The doctor was slightly panicking. That was supposed to be his secret and his alone. He had tried very hard to get over it and succeeding in forgetting it a little bit, but having Mahan tear the wounds up again, made all the horrible memories come flooding back.

"The master was in a very talkative mood this morning, so I simply asked about my so mysterious 'Creator'" Mahan explained, enjoying the ravishing feeling of tormenting the doctor.

"You had no right!" Nerov yelled, anger washing up inside him. "I gave you your powers and I can just as easily take them away!" This statement seemed to rile Mahan, he had no intentions of giving up his powers.

"You seem to have forgotten dear 'Creator', that I'm the one with the powers and you're weak, so I'd advise you to not pick a fight with me." Mahan spoke as controlled as he could manage.

They were at each other's throats almost immediately after and only succeeded in glaring at the other before the abused door got slightly pushed aside. A very nervous looking man stood in the door's frame, watching the horrors play out. Neither Mahan nor Nerov seemed willing to back away, but having an audience to their little squabble didn't seem like a preferable option either, so they both sighed in defeat and backed off.

"You have business here?" Creator asked the newcomer, who stuttered and trembled at the very thought of speaking. On a closer look, Nerov noticed that the man was merely a teenager at best and the boy seemed to be a foot soldier. The kid's brown hair was giving off a red-ish shine, possibly from the hallway lights. Nerov knew this boy hadn't passed as a test subject, as he was either to weak for the procedure or simply already a mage to begin with. Either way, he resided at the bottom of Codename's social food chain and wasn't even in anybody's interest.

"T-The ma-master wants to s-see you." He spoke with a weak voice, unable to bring any power into his statement do to his fear. Nerov wondered for a slight moment why the boy seemed so afraid.

"Very well, come with me." Nerov said quickly, watching as the fright on the teen's face became more imminent.

"I have no idea why the boss favors you so much." Subject 202 let slip and bumped into the doctor's shoulder as he passed by. The dirty blond disappeared through the broken door, passing the shaking boy, who in the process stumbled backwards and out of his way.

"Are you coming?" The doctor asked the boy as he had made his way to the bruised door, sending a death glare at Mahan's retreating back.

"Y-Yes Sir." The kid stuttered and skipped to Nerov's heels, making sure not to walk beside the doctor like an equal. A clear sign of inferiority. Poor kid, he had probably been brainwashed for life.

It didn't take them awfully long to reach the master's chamber and the boy's fear only grew with each step. Nerov knew how the teen felt, he himself felt intimidated by the master's very presence and he held quite a high position. He could only imagine how a low ranking kid would feel at the moment.

"Master Vandettos, you summoned me?" The doctor once again spoke to the massive iron door, where it opened only seconds later. Nerov gave the boy a sign to follow as he stepped inside. The room looked the same as always, the same giant fish tanker at the north wall, the same throne-like chair in the middle of the room, the same ominous feeling radiating from the man standing by the tanker, his hands joined on his back.

"Ah Nerov, nice of you to join me." Vandettos spoke, his voice oddly amused. The master seemed ignorant of the teen's presence in the room and therefore did not spare him a look as he turned around to look at his subordinate.

"Always Sir, you wish something of me?" Nerov bowed slightly, his voice humble. The boy followed suit and bowed too, though much deeper then the doctor.

"Yes yes, I've thought about our situation and I think it's time to set phase one into action." Vandettos said, a smile plastered on his face.

Nerov seemed disturbed by this news and immediately began voicing reasons against such an action. "But sir, we're not ready! We've barely marked any of our targets and we wouldn't have even slightly enough energy as we need to-" The doctor quickly got cut off.

"I think now is a perfect time to run a test on our brand new weapon, don't you think so?" The master was still smiling, but his voice portrayed a clear dislike of the defiance.

"But Master-!"

"Do I detect my orders being ignored by my most trusted comrade, how sad, I wish it wasn't so." Vandettos faked a depressed sigh and held a hand to his heart. "Whatever shall I do, now I must continue on my own!"

"No Master, I simply meant-!" Cut off again, Nerov held his tongue.

"I know what you meant dear Nerov, I simply don't care much about your opinion on the matter, are we clear?" He spoke with the amused tone once again.

"I.. Yes Sir." The doctor gave up on arguing with the master as it would most likely get him into trouble.

"I think you forget who saved you from your misery back in the day. I also think you forget that you're indebted to me, am I right?" Vandettos asked, well aware that Nerov flinched at his words. The doctor was clearly angry, at least enough for him to lose his temper and speak up.

"And you go and tell that to everybody, don't you?! Subject 202 clearly finds my pain rather amusing, you do too don't you? I have told you countless times that I don't want to talk about my past, but you apparently think that trampling all over my memories and feelings is more important than our actual purpose! Damn you!" Nerov realized his mistake seconds after his outburst, so he quickly bowed and spoke again calmly. "Forgive me Master, I did not mean it."

The boy at the doctor's side stared mortified between the two men, sweat forming on his forehead.

"Oh I think you did and I'm not a forgiving man." The master's voice was deadly and it hit Nerov as lightning, quick and painful. "But, on the other hand, I still need you."

Nerov visibly relaxed in his bowing stance. The thought of the master still needing him was a comforting one. As long as he was needed, he wouldn't be killed.

"You do seem to have forgotten something though." Those simple words got Nerov's heart jumping to his throat and he looked up at his master.

"Yes master?" Nerov was both curious and afraid at once, what came next definitely wouldn't be good.

"I hold enough power to kill you in an instance and don't think I won't just because you're needed, I'll find another way to achieve my goal if it should come to that." Vandettos was amused again, seeing the fear in Nerov's eyes gave him a thrill he only felt when he was about to kill someone.

Nerov didn't answer, but his head fell down into his bowing stance once again.

"I can make every object in this room into a weapon that'll attack you at my command." The master stated and as soon as the words had escaped his lips, Nerov heard a muffled scream at his side. The red head spun around, only for his eyes to land on the boy who was being mercilessly held and beaten by metal snakes. The iron grid underneath his feet had come to life and bound itself around his head, over his mouth, successfully half-muting the kid. The helpless teen cried out in pain as yet another hit came to his abdomen, making his torso bend oddly inwards.

Nerov was mortified by what he was witnessing and it clicked in his brain, that the master was most likely behind this cruel attack.

"I can make the air turn poisonous and watch you die slow and painfully." The master's voice rung somewhere behind the doctor, who's eyes widened when the clear oxygen around the boy turned a venomous purple. The metal snakes released the boy, who fell to the ground and landed on his knees. He immediately began coughing and placed both his hands on his throat gasping for clean air, none of which came to him. Tears had begun flowing from the boy's eyes, as he drooled on the floor do to his wide open mouth. It was clear torture, yet Nerov didn't dare speak, well knowing he himself could be next. He did however clench his eyes shut, turning his head away from the scene. The sound of the boy's breathless cries would probably haunt him forever.

"And," The master's confident voice chimed. The purple smoke vanished, giving the boy some much needed air. The kid got on his knees again, having found new strength from the newly obtained oxygen. His brown eyes showed pure fear, as he turned to look the the master. He lifted his hands in surrender, while the tears still flooded from his wide eyes. Nerov was surprised when the boy spoke, "Please.. Please don't." It came out as a sob as his shaking hands was still being hold up in defeat. The words were clearly directed at the master, as Nerov was quite sure the kid didn't even notice him in the room anymore.

"I can make every and any organ in your body attack itself the most brutal way possible." The master finished and his voice dripped with finality.

A sickening splatting sound came from the boy's body and he immediately spit up blood in his mouth. Within seconds the teen's eyes had turned dim and he fell lifeless to the ground, his corps flattening out on his stomach.

Nerov felt sick. He had just witnessed something he would never forget. He kept silent as Vandettos' footsteps drew near.

"I trust we've come to an understanding, am I right?" Nerov knew the master was at least a few feet from him, but his voice sounded right in his ear, deadly as ever. Nerov didn't trust the stability of his voice, so he proceeded with nodding.

"Activate M.O.D. immediately." The master's voice held none of his previous amusement, therefore his order was absolute.

"Y-Yes Master." The doctor's voice sounded weak, but he didn't mind at the moment. He made for the door, set on getting away from the monster in the room, a monster who's black spiky hair seemed just too sharp, who's dark eye's seemed to glow red at that moment.

"Oh and," Nerov froze when the man spoke again. The master looked down at the boy's body with disgust. "Clean this up."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hey, what's up?<strong>_

_**I know, It was shorter this time and I'm sorry, but I too had other plans for this chapter. It just didn't seem right to hold anything back from you. I had this chapter ready for uploading and I didn't wanna keep it from you guys, since you do so much waiting on my account. If you are disappointed, I completely understand.**_

_**You'll have to wait and see what happens at fairy tail a little longer, I'm writing in full speed at the moment :)**_

_**Don't you guys think it's gonna be an awesome anime year? :D So much stuff that needs watching this year!**_

_**Oh well, I had my dark and gloomy mood on in this chapter, as most of you will notice :)**_

_**Please leave a review, I long for your thoughts!**_

_**See ya next chapter! **_

_**Sigi-san out!**_


	5. Always Waiting

**_Hey people.._**

**_I know, I know, I said I'd be quick with this chapter, but so much keep happening for me._**

**_Some of you have probably figured out what's gonna happen, which is a little disappointing on my part, but I'll live. The thrill of plot twisting you guys is pretty good, so at least act surprised? (I kid you, give me your honest opinion!)_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail._**

* * *

><p>Not again. Not this feeling again. Why was this always happening? She had worried for two weeks, refused to eat or sleep for his sake. She had stayed up every night, in case he would wake and not be all alone in the dark. She had washed his face countless times, just so he wouldn't be uncomfortable. She had done this, and been happy doing it. It had all been worth it when he finally woke up and looked into her eyes. She could tell how confused he had been, how lost and worried. Did he really have to go through that again? That same worry, that same uneasiness?<p>

His eyes were once again unbearably closed. It was painful, just watching him had Juvia to utmost exhaustion. It didn't matter how tired she was though, she would stay awake as long as he wasn't.

Her pale hand was once again connected to his as she sat at his bedside, staring at his unmoving eyelids. Her eyes traveled over his eyelashes, then his nose, over his lips and down to the necklace on his chest. The small sword looking pendant shined beautifully silver, with a blue rim stone in the middle. The water mage reached out and let her fingertips trace over the cold metal. He had never spoken of the necklace before. He wore it all the time, but not once had he explained why. Was it just an accessory, or maybe something precious to him? A momentum from someone, or a cheap fashion item? Juvia's mood descended when she thought about how little she actually knew about the ice mage. What did he like to eat? What was his favorite color? What did he do on his days off? Of course she mostly knew the last one, do to following him around. The water mage flinched at the thought of never knowing all the small, but important things. Gray had never been much interested in talking about himself, nor his feelings for that matter.

They had gotten closer lately, there was no denying that. She had held his hand many times now, which was an act Gray never would have agreed to in the past. Maybe he liked Juvia now? The water mage blushed at the thought and pinched herself mentally. She shouldn't get her hopes up, Gray wasn't very honest when it came to feelings, she supposed. Though all she wanted now was for him to open his eyes. She didn't care if he never returned her feelings, nor if he hated her. All he had to do was wake up, all he had to do was survive and live. That's all she wanted, even if it meant not being with him.

"Are you alright?"

Tears had formed in her eyes, so she quickly wiped them off, turned and let out a sigh. Levy supported herself on crutches and betrayed her body's scream for relaxation. A small smile housed her lips as her eyes traveled from Juvia to the unconscious Gray. Seeing the water mage's worried features, she spoke again. "I guess not.. Huh?"

Juvia, having seen how much she troubled Levy, forced her face into happier folds, however hard it was to smile at the moment. "Juvia's fine." She said, unconvincingly.

"No, you're not." Levy stated, seeing through Juvia like glass.

Turning away from the smaller mage, Juvia trapped her lower lip between her teeth in shame. She had lied to Levy's face. She felt guilty for lying to someone who was concerned about her, but she also felt greatly irritated that she couldn't hide her feelings better.

"Juvia's sorry." The water mage apologized. "Juvia just.." She couldn't finish when her voice let out a sob.

After a small breeze, Juvia's eyes widened when two arms locked around her neck. Levy had discarded her crutches on the floor and embraced the water mage, who was greatly distraught.

"You don't have to be sorry.. I understand." Levy said, a comforting smile in her voice. The smaller mage's hand patted Juvia on the head, making tears well up in the water mage's eyes once again. Juvia instantly put her arms around Levy too. The two of them had gotten closer since their trip together, so Juvia didn't feel a need to hold back on her emotions, not that she could in front of Levy anyway. The little mage had a way to just make people spill their guts, she just knew how to comfort people the right way. No wonder Gajeel liked her, Juvia thought to herself.

"How's Erza-san doing?" Juvia asked when the two girls had separated.

"The same, it's always the same." Levy said bitterly, but sent a small smile Juvia's way. "I feel like we do nothing but sit at each other's bedsides lately." She sighed.

Juvia knew she was right. Gray had told the water mage about how they waited at Levy's bed when she got injured. Juvia herself, had waited for two weeks with Gray when he didn't awake. According to Levy, Gray had spent a great deal of time by Juvia's bed when the water mage collapsed do to lack of sleep and nutrition. And now Juvia was waiting for the ice mage to wake once again, they really did nothing but wait.

Why couldn't they just catch a break? It really felt like nothing good had happened recently. Friends got injured, Leon died, once they thought the worst was over, something else just happened in it's place. Juvia hadn't been happy for a while, mind the times she had spent with Gray. Having become closer was wonderful, but it all came down to nothing if Gray never awoke, or if Juvia somehow got gravely injured. She didn't want to get left behind, nor did she want to leave him behind. One day something horrible was gonna happen and they would get teared apart. Juvia feared that day with all her being. Nothing could be done to stop fate's turning.

"It's gonna be fine." Levy reassured, as if she had read Juvia's mind.

The water mage nodded, not sharing her fears for the future.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, but I really have no idea what's going on." Tanarou sighed, as his eyes followed the pacing Makarov.<p>

"Why would this happen? What do they want?!" The master seemed utterly confused, yet anger simmered under his skin. Codename had no right nor reason to attack his guild, so why would they? What was their purpose in doing such an useless act? What did they hope to accomplish?

Taizou, who had planted himself in the corner of the room, seemed extraordinarily bored and not interested in the situation at all. Handling his small knife playfully, he drew in a hardened breath and sighed loudly, annoying both Makarov and Tanarou.

"Taizou, go contact my son. Tell him to be here within two hours." Tanarou ordered, making Taizou spring to life, salute and storm out the door of Makarov's office.

Makarov looked to his old friend, a worried expression plastered on his face. "Tanarou, don't involve Keir in this, I don't want him getting hurt." He stated.

"No such thing, Keir would be happy to help. Plus I think he would enjoy being around some kids of his own age." Tanarou smiled. "We need all the help we can get if you plan on duking it out with Codename." The large man sighed.

"Thanks, old friend." The master smiled sadly and ran two fingers through his mustache. "I just worry of your warning, are they really that powerful?"

"I'm afraid so. I've only met the master once and I will never forget that day." Tanarou's eyes shined with darkness for a slight second, before he regained his indifferent attitude.

"What makes them so dangerous?" Makarov asked, but noted an unusual noise from the guild hall. Something crashed, something shattered, someone yelled.

Ignoring the obvious oddness of the sounds, Tanarou answered. "It's a secret weapon, they call it-" Interrupted by Natsu bursting in through the door, both the elder men snapped out of their conversation.

"Master! You gotta see this!" The fire mage shouted, panic and excitement flaming in his eyes.

"Natsu, we're in an important meeting!" The master shouted back, cross about the interruption.

"This is more important, trust me!" Natsu let out in a loud voice, slightly out of breath.

After having looked at Tanarou with apologetic eyes, the master followed Natsu out the door, through the hall and towards the sickbay, all the while the fire mage was quick on his feet.

"Natsu, slow dow-!" The master stopped dead sentence when he entered the sickbay.

It was chaos. Some were running around screaming in panic, while others were sat at the floor looking helpless and defeated. What on earth was going on? Gajeel was shouting about wanting to leave his bed, while Levy tried her best calming him. She looked in pain, but did a well job of hiding it to talk rational with the enraged iron mage. Lucy jogged her way to Natsu when he entered to room with the confused master. Mirajane ran from person to person trying to calm them down. Juvia was still bent over at the sleeping Gray's bedside, her eyes threatening to close despite the noise from the panicked. Erza's face portrayed confusion and slight fear, as she stared at her upheld hands. She studied them front and back, seemingly surprised by something. Not noticed by her, on her left lower arm shined a purple rose that bloomed over her skin and kept growing.

"Silence!" Makarov yelled, successfully muting the room filled with mages, as if the entire scene was put on pause. "Now, what is going on in here?!" His voice sounded slightly angry, a tone he regretted a little.

"Master, everybody knows, about Codename, about everything!" Mira explained quickly, but took a firm hold on the little man and dragged him to Erza. The red head was still staring at her hands in absolute confusion, that slowly turned to dread. "Erza is awake and this is worse." Mira commented.

"I don't have any magic power." Erza said quietly, yet it felt like yelling in the dead silence of the room.

Makarov was now also confused to the brim of irritation. "What do you mean Erza?" He asked calmly.

"I can't use any magic." Erza said, once again in an ominous tone. The purple rose bloomed yet another flower head over her elbow, from which deadly thorns grew. Strange.

Tanarou, who had entered the room after the master, quickly stepped up and took the teen's arm in his hand. She flinched slightly in surprise, but remained calm. Some admired Erza for her attitude, losing one's powers must be overly dreadful, yet the armored mage said nothing and stayed rational.

"I've seen this before.." Tanarou spoke to himself, running a hand through his stubble. The gears in his head turned as he tried to remember, studying the growing rose closely.

"How far is it gonna grow?" Lucy asked mortified, looking at the expanding flower on Erza's arm. Yet another branch grew, filled with thorns.

Tanarou reached out and let his hand touch the growing mark, but immediately withdrew his hand like he burned it. "It's protecting itself." He stated.

"What's it doing to her?!" Natsu sneered, anger clear in his tone.

Tanarou looked to the fire mage for a split second, then back to the poisonous purple mark. "I don't know exactly, either it's blocking her magic power from being released or it's stealing it from her. Either way, it's bad." He explained.

The deadly, but beautiful rose spread it's final head on Erza's shoulder, where it instantly stopped shining and settled down like a tattoo. The red head stared at it with frowned eyes, immediately trying to summon a weapon, any weapon. It did not work, she concluded when nothing happened. She really had lost her powers!

"Juvia saw the same mark on Gray-sama some time ago!" Juvia suddenly exclaimed, making everyone turn to her at the mentioned ice mage's bed.

"Are you sure Juvia?! When?!" Makarov asked her quickly.

The water mage seemed overwhelmed by all the attention and therefore stuttered when she spoke. "Ju-Juvia's not sure, she saw the purple rose on Gray-sama's forehead around three we-weeks ago." She frowned nervously around on all her guild mates and swallowed a small lump in her throat. "It wasn't Juvia's intention t-to hide it!" She panicked slightly.

"It's okay Juvia, I know it wasn't your fault." The master said reassuringly, making his way to the bluenette. "It's just really important to get all the information we can."

Juvia nodded and looked back on the sleeping gray, there was no denying how handsome he was when he slept. Juvia shook the thought out of her head as quickly as it had entered. There was no time for that!

"Argh, so many questions!" Natsu sneered, slightly irritated.

"Is Gray gonna lose his powers too?" Lucy asked, her gaze wandering to Tanarou.

"It's possible." Was all the man answered before he went back to thinking deeply.

His statement only seemed to rile up the guild members even more. One thing was for Erza, an s-class mage to lose her magic power, but for Gray, another member of the strongest team to lose his, was doom in disguise. Mumbling quickly ensured in the room once again.

In that exact moment, Gray mumbled an awakening sound, making everyone silence themselves to listen. Juvia lightened up and gripped his hand even tighter. The master, Natsu, Lucy, Tanarou and Mirajane gathered around his bed as well.

Dark blue eyes opened slightly, blinked a few times and looked around cautiously. His brows frowned slightly when he stared around on all the faces. Then his eyes widened in fright and he jumped up into a sitting stance.

"Gray, are you alright?" Makarov asked, reaching out to calm the teen. Instead of calming however, Gray flinched and backed up against the head of the bed, clearly confused.

"W-what?! Where is this?!" Gray's voice sounded from his mouth, only slightly more panicked.

"Gray-sama it is alright, you are save." Juvia said, confused yet happy. "This is Fairy Tail, you are home."

The ice mage was breathing small, quick breaths, seemingly having a panic-attack. "Wha-! Who are you people?!"

Dead silence.

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><p><strong><em>I was conflicted whether to end the chapter here or continue, but when I tried writing on I got stuck for weeks. I therefore decided to put this out and leave the difficult part for next chapter. I've kept you guys waiting for so long and that is unacceptable on my part, so I'm really sorry.<em>**

**_I really hope you're not ready to kill me or give up on my story. I've gone through a very big change in my life, so I had no time to write at all, I hope you guys can forgive me :/_**

**_To all loyal readers out there, I love you guys and thanks for staying with me :)_**

**_I leave you with this and I'll see you all in next chapter, which I can guarantee will be here surely, but maybe not shortly._**


	6. Denial

"What the hell are you talking about Droopy-eyes?" Natsu broke the quietness, nervously laughing. It was just a stupid joke the ice mage had decided to make.

"More importantly, why is it so cold in here?!" Gray almost yelled, as he yanked his hand from the disturbed Juvia and formed a chain around himself. He was clearly shaking from coldness and he proceeded with running his hands up and down his arm to create friction and thereof warmth.

"Oi oi, back up!" Gajeel sneered, stumbling his way to Gray's bed. "You don't know us?! That's bull!"

"Gray, what do you mean?" Lucy asked quietly.

Makarov suddenly grabbed Gray's chin and turned his head to his gaze. "Gray, you don't remember us?" His voice was dead serious.

"Hey let go of me old man! I'm more confused than any of you!" Gray yelled and ripped himself loose from the master's grip. "Gray this, Gray that, who is this Gray?! Is that my name?! What am I doing here?! And why is it so freaking cold?!" Gray shuddered again, anger, confusion and panic in his voice.

Every single person in the room stared at the ice mage, dread in their eyes. What was going on? How come Gray didn't remember anything? It wasn't true right? Just a temporary side effect from unconsciousness.

"Y-you're joking right?" Natsu asked, any sign of amusement gone from his tone.

"Hey, listen to me." The master said calming and took hold of Gray's shoulders. "You're Gray Fullbuster, an ice mage. You're 18 years old and a member of the magic guild Fairy Tail, which is where we are right now."

"An ice what? Fary Tale? What are you talking about? Are you telling me magic exists? That's a joke." Gray sneered skeptically. "And I told you to let go of me!" The teen ripped himself out of makarov's grip once again.

"It's a joke! I don't believe you people! It's all a big joke!" He yelled over and over again.

"Come on, let's give him some space." Erza said and well enough to get out of bed, she dragged Natsu by the collar, giving the rest of the guild members a stern look on her way out.

"Don't joke like that! Gray doesn't remember us, how can you be this calm?!" Natsu sneered at her.

"I'm anything but calm." Erza said silently.

"I'm not sure that space is what he needs. He needs us right?" Lucy claimed.

"He's too overwhelmed by us all, let Juvia talk to him in a calm environment." Erza gave Juvia a strange look before exiting the door, with Natsu in tow. Many mages fanned out of the room, with Juvia being the only one hesitating. Gajeel found support on Levy and vice versa as they limped out the door.

"Maybe Juvia shouldn't leave him alone?" The water mage asked herself. No, she needed her rest anyway, so why not stay with her beloved Gray-sama?

"It's a joke.." Gray muttered to himself, panic clear in his tone.

"Gray-sama, Juvia understands you don't remember her?" The bluenette neared his bedside once again.

The ice mage's blue eyes shot up from his hands to stare at Juvia. He shook his head violently, making his dark hair flicker around his face.

"Oh." Juvia let her disappointment sound in her voice, but broke out into a loud yawn. "Juvia's tired after all that waiting she did, mind if she lays down for a bit?" Her eyes were focused on Gray's bed, wanting to snuggle up beside him.

"As long as you sleep in your own bed!" The panicked teen declared, having noticed Juvia's wish of sharing a bed.

The water mage pouted, still afraid of the scary possibility that Gray may never have his memories back. She figured she would wait on the master's plan of action. She therefor climbed into the neighboring bed to Gray's and lied on her side, studying Gray. Soon however, she had gone off to dreamland, in which her marriage to Gray was finalized in a church.

The male looked at Juvia, thinking his options through. He could either stay here and go crazy with the rest of the loons in this place or he could sneak out of here and pursue his lost memories. He was frightened though. Where was he? Who was he? Why couldn't he remember anything? He needed to get away from this place filled with mad people! They may claim to know him, but who knew if any of them spoke the truth. Spouting stuff about magic and wizards, what would be next? Knights and dragons?

Thinking that could actually be the case, he swung his legs to the side of the bed and stood up. His outfit existed in a dark blue undershirt and black shorts to the knee, none of these he remembered putting on. A small silver necklace hung around his neck, not remembering this object either, he shrugged it off as nothing. Barefoot, he walked further into the room, slightly fascinated by the place. Going through the front door would most likely get him caught, so he looked around for another option.

Eyeing a window on the west wall, he looked around once again making sure no one saw him. Walking up to the window, he studied the outside. He saw buildings stacked close together, meaning a town. Not far from there however, was a forest, easy to hide in. Getting through the streets, would probably be difficult, but manageable. Unfortunately, he found himself on the second floor, resulting in him having to climb down the wall without falling. It would be difficult, but possible if he was careful. He had to be quick though, any minute that blue haired girl could awake, or anyone could walk in and find him gone.

Giving Juvia one last look, his insides turned in unexplainable dread. He might not see this girl ever again. Dismissing the sudden feeling, he cracked open the window, climbed up on the sill and continued out the window.

* * *

><p>"I trust you have an explanation for this mess?!" Makarov sneered at Tanarou, having slammed the door to his office behind them.<p>

"I told you, I don't know much about this!" Tanarou defended himself. "And might I add, I'm not the one who got recklessly involved with Codename in the first place!"

"They were doing it on purpose! Destroying those guilds to lure us down there, I don't know why, but they had a plan and it's still unsure whether that plan succeeded or not." Makarov explained. "I can only assume, they didn't need some of us, which is why Levy got attacked and Juvia kidnapped. They knew we were gonna take it personally and send our most powerful mages to settle the score." The master was almost talking to himself, not noting Tanarou's concentrated face. "Very clever of them. It must have been a plan from the master or at least someone very high ranking."

"So the whole loss of memories and powers were part of their plan?" Tanarou asked.

"I don't know." The master sighed. "The only strange thing is that Erza's memories remain intact, whereas Gray's does not."

"Gray-kun is an ice mage, is he not?" Tanarou asked again.

Makarov eyed his old friend with confusion. "He is."

"Then, the fact that he is freezing to death in there must mean his powers must still be there, he merely lacks the means to control them, do to his memory loss." Tanarou explained, a sting of hope forming in his chest.

"But the question still remains, why did Gray lose his memories?"

"Well, with what I explained earlier, it might have something to do with subject 101's power." Tanarou stated.

"The power to control and manipulate memories." Makarov summed up, an expression of realization on his features.

"Exactly. I'm willing to bet that has something to do with it." Tanarou said with certainty.

"According to the report Erza gave me, Neel aka Subject 101 hit Gray with a strange technique, which was abruptly stopped in the process. That technique might have been for stealing Gray's powers, but because it was stopped in the middle and Neel's power taken into account, it's possible it stole his memories instead." Makarov theorized thoughtfully.

"It makes sense." Tanarou agreed.

"Earlier you were saying something about a secret weapon, what where you talking about?" Makarov asked, having calmed down greatly.

"Ah yes, it has come to our attention that Codename possess a technique that can seal magical powers, or steal them if you will." Tanarou stated, much to the surprise of the guild master.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?!" Makarov exclaimed, the irritation back in his voice.

"I was going to, but we always get interrupted by someone!" Tanarou said, frustrated.

On that exact que, the door to the office was once again slammed open by a panicked Lucy. Her blonde hair was messier than usual as she panted her words. "Master! You gotta come quick, Gray is missing!"

"See what I mean?" Tanarou mumbled to the tiny master, weariness in his tone.

* * *

><p>His breath cut clear in his sore throat, as he walked along a small ally. A cat complained somewhere in the dark, cross about having it's hiding place revealed. The sun stretched it's last rays over the rooftops, as lights were turning on in the many windows of the city. Goosebumps bared their fangs on the young mans skin, resulting in him shivering slightly. He quickly pulled his jacket closer around himself, hoping to escape the cold the shadows brought with them. Exiting the ally, the young man studied his surroundings.<p>

The street he had entered was almost empty, with the exception of a drunken man on his way home from the local watering hole. The older man stumbled his way past the teen, without noticing him at all. His small chuckles broke out into full on song as he got further down the street. The young man shook his head of this odd behavior. Where he came from, no one was ever drinking, at least not in public. People usually kept to themselves and their families in rare cases. Not a lot of families were created do to people avoiding each other. The thought of home brought longing into the teen's system, which irritated him slightly.

No attachments, that's the rule.

A small gust of wind made the boy's silver hair rustle in the air and his grey eyes spontaneously followed a running leaf on the concrete. It was a stunning town, he could agree on that. The buildings had pretty designs, while the streets looked welcoming and gentle. He could imagine the place in the day, lots of smiling people, open shops and happiness all around. Now however, the street he wandered had a creepy feel to it in the dark, like something was lurking around the corners.

The boy's face however, was engulfed in indifference, not caring for the fact that, that face usually scared children. It was people's own place to think what they wanted, therefor he didn't need a reason to care. Having noticed his thoughts had wandered once again, he let out a curse under his hitched breath. Two hours of running would do that to anyone. His body should have been warm from the strenuous exercise, but his temperature remained oddly cold.

Despite it still being rather early in the year, the weather had been nice and warm, almost summerish. Having been used to the warmer temperatures lately, the teen was surprised when he saw his own breath in a steamy cloud from his mouth. It vaporized as soon as it came, but as he exhaled yet again, it was back. And so on.

Having focused completely on this odd phenomenon, the teen didn't notice the oncoming being who ran right for him. The world seemed to slow down like slow-motion, when the strange human boy ran past him. The grey haired teen immediately focused on the boy who was too busy running to notice anyone there. The other teen had very dark hair and blue confused eyes. He was lightly dressed despite the sudden drop in temperature, plus it didn't went unnoticed that he was barefoot. His face portrayed fright and panic as he ran with full speed down the street.

The silver haired one quickly noticed how, as they crossed paths, the world became so much colder. Almost as if the cold radiated from the dark haired teen. Feeling the absolute need to, the greynette reached out for the other's wrist, wanting an explanation among other. He didn't know what made him do it, but as soon as his fingers closed around the boy's wrist, his hand almost froze over.

The dark haired male turned to look at whatever had stopped him in his journey, his blue eyes meeting silver ones. Gray didn't know what to do about the stranger who looked at him with shock as he quickly withdrew his hand, as if he had burned it. Who was this person and why did he stop him? Was he someone from that crazy place called something or other. Fary Tall? Was that it? It didn't matter! His mind set in gear to get out of this situation.

The grey teen regained his indifferent features after checking his fingers for frostbites. The kid must be a snow mage or something. He felt the need to ask about this strange new person.

"Who are you?" His voice was a little deep and rough around the edges, but still missed that hoarse sound of adult manhood. His question came out harder than he had intended, making the stranger flinch.

Gray didn't answer, after all what could he say? The stranger's silver eyes was settled on him and they didn't exactly have a friendly gleam. Everything about the stranger was grey, oddly enough. He didn't owe this guy any favors and he had been through a lot today. Losing his memories, almost freezing to death, fell down from a wall and now this, a stranger stopped him in his escape and asked questions he didn't need the answers to.

"Who are _you_?" He asked in return, feeling the need to be cross.

The silver haired boy frowned, as irritation flooded his mind. So many questions rolled around in his head. Who was this guy? Why did he himself feel like stopping him? Why did he wanna know who the boy was anyway? What was wrong with him? Did he need to tell the stranger his own name? Why? Why? Why did it mean anything to him at all?!

"Why are you barefoot?" The teen asked Gray, who seemed lost in an argument with himself.

Gray automatically looked down to his feet and the stranger was right, he wasn't wearing any shoes. He had been in to much of a hurry to think about it. Pausing to think, the other teen seemed to think he wasn't going to answer.

"Look, you need to go to a doctor. You're ice cold, that can't be healthy." The serious one said, surprised by his own responsible voice.

"I don't need a doctor!" Gray declared a little to fast, which seemed to get the stranger to put two and two together.

"You're a runaway, aren't you?" Seeing as how Gray flinched by his words, he guessed himself to be right.

"What are you talking about?! Who are you even? Leave me alone, you're a complete stranger and I see no reason why you should be concerning yourself with me!" Gray sneered, defensively.

"So where did you run from? Your parents? Prison?" The silver haired boy sort of hoped it wasn't the latter. Since his job was rather close to that of a police force, taking criminals down was a part of daily routine. The other boy seemed rather confused and innocent, he wouldn't survive in such a harsh environment. At least not as he was now. Judging from the amount of magical power seeping from the dark haired teen, he could tell the boy was strong.

Gray didn't know how to answer. The place he escaped from could very well be some sort of correctional facility or a mental hospital. The stranger seemed like a law enforcer and messing with him would probably come back to bite him.

"I don't know." He therefor chose to tell the truth.

"You don't know?" The stranger was confused by the other teen's answer. "How can you not know?"

"I don't know that either." Gray said, frustrated by himself. Why was he even talking to this guy?

Yet another gust of wind came trough the street, making both males shiver. Gray placed his hands on his upper arms, attempting to shield himself from the cold he was experiencing. Wearing a shirt without sleeves was probably not the right choice of clothing. Shorts and bare feet did not make the list either.

The grey haired one was beginning to lose his temper. The boy was toying with him. He probably thought it was funny to pretend that he knew nothing. He therefor stepped forward, getting in the stranger's face. Did he even have the right to force information out of a civilian? He would have to apologize to both the boy and his boss later.

"Now listen here, I'm about fed up with you. I'm in my rights as a private investigator, to ask you questions that you are obligated to answer. I find you rather suspicious, running around in the dark, bare feet and nowhere dressed for the weather." The stranger spoke as if he had said it a thousand times and was now just recycling old lines. His words should have sounded angry, but the silver eyed teen remained indifferent to the situation. "So, who are you?"

"I don't know!" Gray sneered, this time angry with the other teen for forcing him like this. It was such an odd story; A complete stranger stops him on the street and starts asking questions, which answers were none of his business.

Real anger now flared in the grey eyes, but no matter how angry he got, the boy was still just a civilian. Glaring at the other teen, the silver haired one suddenly noticed something odd. Underneath the dark haired teen's shirt was something that looked an awful lot like a tattoo. He stepped back a bit, eyeing the dark blue tattoo partially hidden under the teen's shirt.

"Excuse me." The silver eyed teen coughed, grabbed Gray's shirt and pulled it slightly away.

This seemed to startle Gray quite a lot, which left him stuttering. "W-what are y-you d-doing?"

A perfect dark blue Fairy Tail mark was branded on the right side of the boy's chest, which left the stranger speechless. He had never seen or been to Fairy Tail himself, but his boss had told of a lot of stories about the so called heroes of Fairy Tail. To him of course, they were just another guild, but his boss seemed to admire the guild for their bravery and strength, which was exactly how they got into their current situation.

"You're a Fairy Tail wizard?" The unknown teen asked, letting go of Gray and backed off.

"No! I have no idea what you're talking about! It's all a lie, there's no such thing as magic!" Gray yelled, tired of repeating himself. Little did he know, the one he had been repeating to, was himself.

The stranger's brows shot to his forehead in astonishment. What was wrong with this guy? "Denial? Loss of memories perhaps? No sane Fairy Tail member would deny the existence of magic."

Remembering he was in a hurry, the silver haired boy scoffed at Gray, raised his hand and returned his face in concentrated features. His right hand was stretched out towards Gray, who watched him, confused.

The ground around Gray suddenly grew pitch black and formed a dark square around him. From the edges, bars made of the same black materiel grew from the ground up. Reaching Gray's height, the bars formed a thin roof over the ice mage's head, successfully creating a pitch black cage, Gray trapped within. The dark haired teen didn't believe his own eyes, the black stuff which now surrounded him, came out of nothing and imprisoned him.

"I'm taking you back to the guild, I was on my way there anyway." The strange young man said, his indifference returning. He slightly lifted his already outstretched hand, making the black cage levitate. He then turned on his heel and started walking, the cage following him on it's own.

Gray was in absolute shock, enough to make his knees buckle and collapse.

"I never got your name." The silver eyed teen said, his voice monotone.

"Gray, I think." The ice mage answered almost unwillingly. If magic existed, there was a big possibility that the crazy people were speaking the truth about his name after all.

"Gray, I'm Keir. Keir Hanshin."

* * *

><p><em><strong>You know what? I feel horrible. I let you guys wait again. It's the same every time isn't it? I say sorry every time, but what does that help you guys? You are amazing people for sticking with me, even though I'm a lazy bum.<strong>_

_**I decided to read all your old reviews of both ToR and MoI, which is what motivated me to get my butt in gear and write. I mentally feed off of your reviews apparently. Thanks so much for supporting me, even if you hate for making you wait.**_

_**It's currently 2:00am and I have school tomorrow (later today actually) I just couldn't make you guys wait any longer. It was very difficult writing this chapter as I got writer's block at least ten times during the entire process. I just hope you enjoyed it.**_

_**Sigi-san says "Godnat til jer alle sammen!" Danish huh? No really, I'll see ya in the next chapter :)**_


	7. The Enemy's Enemy

_**Hey you guys! This is the result of my whacked out brain going crazy on me ;)**_

_**I need to apologize for being late yet again.**_

_**Your reviews gives me lifeblood!**_

_**Ciao ;)**_

* * *

><p><em>How did I get wheeled into this crap?<em>

"You can't like Creator, 'cause I like him!" The girl screamed, keeping a firm grip on a lock of brown hair belonging to the other young girl.

"You gotta be joking! Do you really think he'll ever like you, you ugly pig?!" The brunette shouted back, trying to loosen herself from the other brunette girl's hands.

It was chaos. Mayham, to say the least. The day had stared out so well, only to end in this petty little skirmish.

"You're just mad that I got the looks and you got the.. What? Big mouth?" Another jab at self esteem got fired.

"I hate you!"

"I hate you first!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"It does too!"

"Does not!"

"Yea-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

Mahan's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, while his fingertips drummed impatiently against the table's rough surface. They were currently stationed in the common room, the guild's other members sitting in small cliques about the squared space.

How in the world did he let himself get reeled into this stupid duty? He was a high ranking member of the most bad-ass dark guild in the entirety of Fiore and he he was, babysitting children.

"Yea-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Enough!" Mahan kicked himself up from his sitting position. His light brown hair ruffled slightly by the sudden movement, while his angry eyes focused on the bickering girls. "Shut up! I've had enough of your silly little girly problems, so just shut up!" His loud tone echoed of the wall, alerting the other members, none of which decided to comment on the disturbance. The man was fuming angry puffs of air, when he a second later cursed at himself.

"Chill out old man, we were just joking around, right Lilly?" One brunette looked to another, who nodded with a sudden bored look on her face.

"Yeah dude, no need to pop a vain." The girl called Lilly spoke. "Milly and I were just having some fun."

"Fun?" Mahan exclaimed, a confused and irritated look haunting his features. "What is wrong with teenagers now-a-days?! I was not this stupid when I was your age." He sighed, worn out.

"Yeah, but that was like a trillion years ago." Milly chuckled.

"Hey, I'm only 25." Mahan complained, completely forgetting that he was angry.

"If you don't wanna be here, then why don't you just leave?" Lilly asked, curiosity playing in her bored tone.

"Taking care of you is an order from the master, I can't just leave." Mahan sighed while dumping himself in the chair once again.

"Well, we don't need taking care of, right Lilly?" Milly asked her twin. Why was it always twins? First those annoying, unnaturally loving brats Subject 101 was hanging around with and now these twits. Mahan decided, he hated children.

He was already sick and tired of this day, now all he wanted to do was get a drink and sleep until tomorrow. His eyes traveled to the windows, where small rain drops slowly began staining the glass. The dark sky showed no sign of stars, being covered in heavy rain clouds. The two girls by his side began bickering again, making him shut his eyes and forget the world around him.

* * *

><p>"Gray, how could you run away like that?!" Mirajane scolded the still shivering teen.<p>

Gray had been brought back to the guild by a very displeased Keir. The silver haired teen sighed when he let the prison of black land on the floor. Luckily they had just avoided the oncoming rain that now started falling outside. The cage around Gray disintegrated before their eyes, letting the dark haired boy free.

"I'll go greet my boss." Keir stated, not bothering to lock eye contact with anyone.

"You mean your father?" Lucy asked, having joined the crowd around Gray, a group of people existing of Erza, Natsu and a distraught Juvia.

Keir seemed to jump slightly by the mention of his family member, whereas he only nodded without a word and continued on his way.

"Odd fella." Marco commented, somewhere in the mass of people.

"Seriously Droopy-eyes, what kind of pansy-ass move was that?!" Natsu taunted. Gray, who were still on his knees, just looked at him with both confusion and irritation in his eyes. Droopy-eyes? Pansy-ass?! Who the hell did this guy think he was, calling him things like that?! Then again, was this a normal thing? The ice mage felt anger within himself, but it also felt like this was something that happened rather often.

"Shut-up! I don't even know who you are!" Gray sneered, surprising even himself. Natsu frowned deeply. That was right, Gray didn't remember him. He didn't remember anything, not his past nor his time here at Fairy Tail. He didn't remember Erza, or Lucy, or the master, or even Juvia. Not even his own powers. The thought made the fire mage a little somber. Who the hell did this to him? Neel was somehow involved, but according to Old-man-Tanarou this dark guild, "Codename" had something to do with it. Anger arose within Natsu, no one hurt his friends! He was gonna beat the crap out of whoever did this to Gray and Erza!

Gray found it odd the way the pink haired teen stopped talking and went into deep thoughts, somehow that didn't seem like Natsu. Wait a minute! How did he know the boy's name was Natsu?! Sudden pain shot into Gray's brain, making the teen clutch at his hair.

"Gray, what's wrong?!" Erza asked quickly, seeing the pain the ice mage was in. She bowed down, putting herself on Gray's eye level.

The wrench of his brain stopped as suddenly as it had come. What did he just think about? Oh well.. "I don't remember."

"You looked like you were in pain, are you sure you are alright?" The red head looked concerned.

"I don't know, I don't know anything. Who was that guy?" Gray looked a little lost, as he jerked his head in the direction Keir had went. "Who are you? What is this place?" He looked Erza straight in the eyes, making Juvia's toes curl out of jealousy. If only he would stare into her eyes like that.

"I'm Erza Scarlet, your friend." The s-class mage smiled.

"My friend?"

"Yes," Erza chuckled and gently took hold of Gray's left arm. "Come on, lets get you cleaned up. You're freezing."

Gray felt a sudden warmth within his chest. This place filled with crazies might not be such a bad place after all.

* * *

><p>"So, you're Erza, you're Natsu, Lucy and Juvia." Gray pointed at each person he named. Having gotten a warm bath, new clothes and a soft bed in the infirmary, Gray's mood had upped quite a lot since earlier. The ice mage now sat cross-legged on his bed looking around on his so called "friends".<p>

The blonde, Lucy moved on her chair, smiling at Gray. The innocent, confused Gray was cute no matter how you looked at him. His rough, icy, but also positively weird personality was gone, only to be replaced by a scared, confused and child-like one. Knowing nothing of the world and the people in it, had changed the man unmeasurably. The Gray they knew was gone until further notice. Lucy didn't know what to think, she felt sad on Gray's behalf, not remembering anything about yourself or your friends, must be a very sad thing to go through. Somehow things hadn't gone well lately, Erza had lost her powers too. Poor Erza, she looked fine, but in Lucy's experience, the red head was just putting up a front for everybody. Most of all Gray. Having the ignorant Gray know that one of their guild's most powerful mages were without power at the moment, was probably not a smart idea.

Gajeel, a big grumpy guy Gray had noted, clicked his tongue and turned in his bed, most likely trying to sleep. The rain were coming down harshly outside and the blue haired girl, Juvia kept reassuring people "it wasn't her fault", whatever that meant.

"That's right! And this here," Natsu pointed to his fist, "is the the hand that's gonna beat the shit out of you of you don't remember us soon." The fire mage smiled, but yet somehow was still serious underneath his toothy grin.

"Natsu, stop it!" Lucy scolded, while Erza looked back and forth between her and Natsu.

"What, can't I say stuff like that any more?! I used to do that all the time and you know it!" The teen sulked.

"That's not the point, maybe he wants to remember, but can't! He doesn't need you pouring salt in it!" The blonde's irritated tone went on deaf ears, as Natsu crossed his arms defiantly and looked away from her.

"I'm right here, you know." Gray sighed.

"Lucy's got a point though." Erza agreed, ignoring Natsu's "traitor!" scream. "Every time Gray tries to remember anything, everything from before he lost all his memories get's wiped clean. Just as Tanarou said, someone stole his memories and he can't just take them back by remembering."

There was a small pause of silence. Everyone looked to Gray again, making him slightly uncomfortable.

"So what you're saying is, someone stole Gray's memories and he can't remember them before we steal them back from whoever took them in the first place?" Lucy asked.

"Most likely."

"That suits me fine, I'm gonna kick their asses and bring back both Gray's memories and your powers!" Natsu yelled, looking determinedly on Erza.

"And how do you plan on doing that, do you even know where to start looking?" Lucy asked, curiosity playing in her voice.

"Neel." Juvia, who had been quiet through their entire conversation, flinched by the mention of the name. Not unnoticed by Gray, who looked at her with slight concern. Juvia struck him as an odd girl, mostly because she had tried to convince him that she was his girlfriend before he lost all recollection of her. She was mostly quiet, but found drooling sometimes, off in some kind of dreamland. Sure, he had only known her for a couple of hours, but she seemed nice enough. Weird, but nice.

"What do you mean 'Neel'? What about him?" Lucy asked Natsu, who seemed to be thinking up some kind of master plan.

"Neel was the one who put that weird spell on Gray, so he must have some connection to those who stole his memories." Natsu said cleverly.

"That's actually a good point Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, impressed by him.

"Juvia doesn't think it's a good idea." The water mage suddenly said, avoiding eye contact.

"Why not?" Erza asked calmly.

Juvia swallowed a lump. She was seated on a small dresser pushed up against the wall, her legs brushing by the handles of the drawers. "We left Neel-kun alone back at the orphanage, it's hard to imagine he's still there after almost three weeks." She stated.

"Yeah, but the magic council probably took him into custody. We can just talk to him there." Lucy suggested.

"I wouldn't count on that." A voice sounded from the infirmary door. They all looked that way, only to watch the silver haired boy from earlier enter. His face was indifferent and cold while he stepped closer.

Natsu immediately put a sour look on his face, he didn't much care for the newcomer. "What do you want?" He asked in a irritated voice.

"Natsu, you're being rude!" Lucy tried to scold again, but only got ignored.

"I just happened to overhear your little discussion and thought to myself 'what an idiotic idea'." The cold teen teased Natsu.

"What did you say?!" Natsu took two steps towards the stranger before Lucy took it upon herself to take hold of Natsu's west, holding him back. The fire mage was already boiling with anger, but Lucy's presence behind him calmed him slightly. If that bastard so much as smirked right to his face, he would crack his skull open.

"I said it was 'an idiotic idea', can't you hear?" The white-silver haired teen asked, his own face portraying slight irritation. What did he have to be irritated about, Natsu thought. He was the one coming in here and pissing people off!

"You.. Um?" Erza started.

"Keir." The silver headed one answered her unasked question.

"Keir, what did you mean when you said that we shouldn't count on Neel being held by the council?" She continued.

Keir stepped slightly closer, keeping an eye on Natsu, who had calmed down a little. Lucy still had a good portion of his west in her hand.

"Subject 101, or Neel as you prefer, was or is depending on him still being alive, a member of Codename." Keir started his explanation. "My boss and I have been working on this case concerning Codename for nine years now and I know how they act. They would rather have him killed then to let him into the hands of the council, meaning if he is still alive, you wont find him unless you find their headquarters."

"So? Taizou knows where that is, we can just ask him." Natsu shot in, contempt him his voice.

"Taizou is not allowed to share that kind of information, not even with us." The silver haired teen stated, ignoring the ill will in Natsu's tone.

"What do you mean 'not even with you'?" Lucy asked.

"According to our spell researcher, Taizou's been equipped with a rather powerful one that will kill him if he spills any vital information about Codename." Keir explained.

"How does that work? Juvia thought Taizou-san already told you a great deal of information." The water mage said confused.

"Everything Taizou has told us, has obviously not been of great importance to them. This is why he hasn't told us of their master plan, nor of their location." Keir stated.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about." Gray sighed, lost to the conversation.

"Haven't you tried following him? To see where he goes when he's off to missions?" Erza asked again.

"Of course we have, but we always end up losing him in the end." Keir's voice shook with slight frustration, he regained his indifference a second later.

"Amateurs, can't even follow a single guy." Natsu spat out with venom.

"You idiot, every member of Codename is granted some kind of way to escape. Of course, Taizou isn't allowed to tell us what that is. My boss doesn't want to risk losing our only inside member, so he doesn't force Taizou to say anything." Keir explained.

"Awfully easy to trick you guys then. Haven't you even considered the possibility that he might be lying to you or something?" Natsu asked. Lucy looked nervously between Keir and the fire mage.

Anger immediately showed on Keir's face. "Take that back." He sneered.

"Natsu, what's the matter with you?!" Lucy yelled at the pink haired teen, anger in her tone as well.

"Taizou would never betray The Guard! He's a good man, so take back what you said!" Keir roared, his fists clenched. The silver haired teen stepped closer, when suddenly he launched for Natsu.

The fire mage pushed Lucy aside, getting into a serious fighting stance. "Come at me then!"

"Natsu, stop this right now!" Erza stepped forward, ready to intervene when she remembered the loss of her powers.

Keir's fist slammed into Natsu's face a second later, making the fire mage step back from the impact. It wasn't enough to beat him! Natsu flew forward, successfully hitting Keir square in the jaw. Keir also only stepped back a little, putting them at the same physical level.

"Woah, what the hell is happening?!" Gray yelled having jumped from his bed, backing up against the dresser, right next to Juvia. The water mage was for once a little to busy to notice her dear Gray-sama's closeness. Never thought she would be thinking that, she regretted it instantly.

Lucy looked on in horror as Natsu and Keir slammed each other with deadly blows, as if taking turns. Natsu hit, then Keir hit, then Natsu and then Keir again. back and forth, like an endless circle.

Natsu's fist flew right for Keir's face once again, when the silver haired teen suddenly dodged the attack, bowed down to get under Natsu' field of vision and held his hands by his hip. A katana of black matter formed in his hands in seconds. The slim sword got sliced upward, aiming for Natsu's throat. Luckily the fire mage stepped back in time to barely dodge the slash.

Lucy gasped frightened. Keir was really trying to kill Natsu and judging from his continuing attempts at hitting one of Natsu's vital spots, he was dead set on it. Besides that, Lucy was really curious as to what that katana was made of, the black matter that formed out of nowhere, what could it be? Shadows? Darkness?

Natsu continued to dodge, hating the fact that he was on the defensive. Letting his fists catch on fire, the pink haired teen dodged once again and went for a counter. His flaming fist connected with the black blade of Keir's sword, the other teen having blocked his attack. Natsu cursed as he jumped back, creating some distance between him and his adversary.

"Take back what you said!" Keir screamed, having totally lost it.

"Yeah Natsu, please just take it back before you destroy the whole infirmary!" Lucy yelled, having ducked behind one of the many beds.

A power struggle ensured between the two when Natsu went on the offensive once again. Keir kept blocking Natsu's fire attacks, where as if Natsu hadn't been holding back, this fight would have been over with a long time ago. Little did he know, Keir thought the same.

In fear of destroying the building like Lucy said, Natsu held back from releasing bigger, more destructive attacks. Lost in thought, Keir's black katana came out of nowhere, grazing his cheek. A small cut formed on the fire mage's skin, instantly shedding blood.

"Natsu!" Erza gasped slightly. Juvia and Gray were still stationed by the wooden dresser, while Lucy peeped forth from behind a bed.

"It's just a scratch." Natsu reassured them.

Both the two boys launched for each other at that same moment, one with flaming fists, the other with a pitch back katana. Before either of them could finish out their attacks, an infirmary bed came flying through the room, in between of the two and crashed against the wall behind them.

"For fuck's sake!" An angry roar was heard further down the room. "Can't you be allowed one god damn MINUTE of sleep, without having to listen to you assholes FUCKING AROUND and making SO MUCH FUCKING NOISE!" Gajeel growled as he slowly stepped closer. His eyes tired, yet deadly went from Natsu to Keir, then back. "Shut the fuck up." His voice was once again in a lower pitch, yet still as pissed off.

"Gajeel, oh thank god!" Lucy exclaimed, praising his temper internally.

"No, not god, me!" Gajeel voiced his anger. "Now, get over yourselves, and let me sleep!"

Natsu and Keir had momentarily forgotten each other and stared at the pissed off Gajeel. Lucy eyed the broken bed by the wall. Wow, Gajeel must have tossed that thing hard.

"What is going on in here?!" Makarov suddenly blasted through the door, Tanarou in tow. The small master stopped in his tracks as he eyed the scene before him. Natsu and Keir clearly fighting each other, Lucy hiding, Juvia and the confused Gray in the corner of the room and Gajeel, who should be resting, out of bed. Anger formed on his features.

Natsu let the fire on his hands vanish as Keir incinerated his black sword.

"Natsu, what in the world is going on here?" Makarov asked, hoping for a pleasant answer.

Before Natsu even had chance of answering, Tanarou had slipped by the master and took long, steady steps towards Keir. The silver haired teen looked up to his tall father, obedience in his eyes.

Tanarou let his palm run across Keir's face in a fierce slap that made Keir fall backwards and land on the floor. Dead silence rung through the room as all eyes were on the pair.

"Know your place." Were Tanarou's only words as he looked at his son with disappointed eyes. He then turned on his heel and walked out the room. After the noise of the door being slammed shut had passed, Keir got on his feet.

The silver haired boy turned to look at Natsu and the fire mage's eyes widened by what he saw.

Keir's eyes were dead of any kind of emotion. Earlier, when they had fought, his eyes had been full of passion and anger, now they were empty. Except a tiny speck of life, which only signalized that the human was alive, those grey eyes held nothing.

"Excuse me." Keir said, even his voice indifferent. He bowed slightly to the master on his way out and gently closed the infirmary door behind him.

Natsu was filled with an odd feeling. He was torn by his anger and his sympathy for Keir. Natsu wasn't usually one for feeling sorry for anybody, but that dead look Keir had given him was already haunting his brain.

"N-now Gajeel, back to bed." Even then master seemed shook up a little. None of the members of this guild was related to him by blood, but he still considered everyone of them his children. Never would he have hit any of them that way. Sure he had bashed around Natsu a couple of times, but that was totally different. Both himself and Natsu knew the fun in it.

Maybe it was time for a chat with Tanarou.

"Fine." Gajeel complained a little, but followed orders and threw himself on an empty bed, dragging the covers over himself.

"M-master, I-" Natsu started, but held his tongue when Makarov held up his hand, silently asking him to be quiet.

"We'll talk about this later." His voice portrayed finality. "Gray, please go back to bed and the rest of you, go home, it's late."

Lucy got out from her hiding spot and looked nervously to Natsu, who didn't say a word. Juvia said a gentle goodnight to Gray and bowed slightly, which he thought was odd. Natsu, Lucy, Erza and Juvia followed the master, exiting the infirmary.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Lucy told Natsu and let her hand gently brush down his arm, an action he noticed and smiled slightly. He nodded to her and with his eyes, followed her until she vanished from sight.

Erza said her goodnight and made her way to Fairy Hills, the dormitory for the girls.

"Master, I-" He tried again.

"Natsu, I said later." Makarov's voice held an odd tone of something Natsu hadn't heard before, he therefore backed off.

Making for the front door he passed by Taizou, who waited just outside. He smirked lightly when Natsu walked by him.

"Fought with the young master, have we?" His sudden question startled Natsu a little, but the teen quickly regained his composure.

"What's it to you?" Natsu sneered slightly, not caring if he sounded rude.

"Oh nothing, I was just saying you should be careful messing with that boy, he's a real monster when he get's serious." Taizou chuckled, his dark eyes shining in the moonlight. The rain had let up a little while ago, making the almost full moon shine through the cracks in the clouds.

"What are you saying?" Natsu frowned.

"Just giving you a bit of advise, watch your back when it comes to him." Taizou gave Natsu one last look before turning and entering the Fairy Tail building once again.

Natsu stood there for a while, just looking at the front gate. From the inside, the letters were backwards and harder to read, but having seen the sign so many times, Natsu had no problem deciphering the words:

Fairy Tail.

His home, his family. He was gonna protect them, no matter what. Codename were messing with the wrong people and they were gonna pay for it. Big time.

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><p><strong><em>Hello my lovely readers, have I ever told you guys how much I love you? No? Well I do, a lot!<em>**

**_This was Chapter 7, so what did you think? It was kind of dramatic, wasn't it?_**

**_I was looking forward to introducing Keir, because I have a feeling you guys are gonna love him as much as I do. Yeah, he might seem like a dick right now, but don't worry, you'll know why eventually._**

**_Plus, I think I made Natsu kind of OOC this chapter, so I'm sorry for that and again, some of you might think it's weird that Happy ain't around, but as I said I have absolutely no clue how I should portray him. He really lives up to his name and I am not optimistic enough to actually write in such a happy character. Yeah, you could say Natsu is the happy type, which is why I feel bad about changing him a little and making him kind of OOC._**

**_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll be super happy if you would review your thoughts. (After all, I become depressed if no one praises me) (I'm kidding) But seriously, please review ;)  
><em>**

**_Oh and I'll try to edit some chapters of ToR, maybe that'll make some more people read it. To all of you here (who hopefully have read ToR) Thank you!_**

**_I'll see you next time~_**

**_Sigi-san signing out!_**


	8. Just Try

**_Hello hello hello! How's it going, folks?_**

**_I hereby present to you the eighth chapter of Memories of Ice, aka: MoI (In case any of you were wondering, ToR is Tears of Rain)_**

**_Disclaimer: I respect Mashima enough not to raid his house and steal his stuff._**

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><p>Lucy Heartfilia was having a bad day. Fate seemed to like screwing her over regularly, she hadn't had any luck at all lately. Last week, she stumbled over a dog, yesterday she lost her wallet and today, she dropped her favorite mug, accidentally smashed a window in a rage over said mug and just that morning on her way to the guild, she stepped in some gum. Yeah, it was petty thinking she was the victim of everything, but it really felt that way.<p>

She sighed to herself, taking a hold of a wad of blonde hair. Split ends, great. She puffed yet another frustrated breath of air and locked her eyes on the table in front of her. Voices sounded around her, but she didn't touch it. She was too exhausted to care.

"Lucy, what's the matter with you?" Natsu suddenly asked to her left, the only voice she picked up on. Her brown eyes moved from the table to the pink haired fire mage. He was looking worried. It warmed her heart slightly, knowing he cared. It didn't make her any less tired of everything, but it helped a little.

"Just thinking." She answered calmly, smiling slightly at his confused face. The guild hall was buzzing with life, even through the hard times, one of which they were going through at the moment.

"About what?" He was clearly curious. Natsu was always like that, she noted. He had always been a beacon of hope and optimism for the guild, but lately even _his_ spirits had been down. After Leon died, Natsu hadn't been the same and with good reason. Lucy couldn't imagine what it had been like for Natsu, to lose yet another friend. First Lisanna, then Leon and they almost lost Gray not too long ago. Natsu must be terrified of losing people, Lucy thought. Understandable. Playing the inner psychologist, she thought about how Natsu might have abandonment issues.

"Just stuff." The celestial mage said, her voice low compared to the entire room filled with chatting mages. Sharing the thoughts she had just had, probably wasn't a good idea. She thought back to the day before, Gray and the fight. Natsu would never have picked a fight like that normally, something was clearly wrong. His friends meant everything to Natsu, there's no way he would criticize someone else's.

"Wanna take a walk?" Natsu suddenly asked, surprising Lucy. She stared at him with a confused look, but she wouldn't decline.

"Sure, where to..?"

* * *

><p>She was sleeping. Peacefully and quietly, stationed on that same dresser. It must be uncomfortable, the male thought to himself. Her short blue hair laid messed over her face, her breath slightly waving through a couple of strands. Her hands were folded in her lap, as her head leaned on the wall. Her brown boots was placed on the floor beneath her feet, one of which had tipped over when she slipped them off. Her eyelashes vibrated slightly and the boy held his breath. Would she awake?<p>

When she settled down again, Gray visibly relaxed and let the captured breath go. She must have fallen asleep at some point in the day. She had gotten there super early and seated herself on that dresser for hours, waiting for Gray to awake. He knew this, because he wasn't really asleep when she got there this morning. She had sat there, not moving an inch, patiently waiting. Gray had fallen asleep too, but when he woke up, she was away in dreamland again. Still and breathtaking. She was kind of beautiful, he thought only to shake his head and rid himself of such thoughts.

The male pulled himself up on his elbows and studied her even further. She breathed calm and silently, mesmerizing him. He wondered, who was she to him? How did his old self see her? Had she been a close friend? An acquaintance? Or a crush perhaps? He blushed slightly by the thought of that. Had he had any crushes? What about that Erza girl, maybe he had been into her? Gray didn't know, he couldn't remember anything from before yesterday, it was all a blur.

He looked down at himself for a moment, feeling a little sad. What met his eyes was his bare chest, pale and slightly cold. His skin had an icy feel to it, odd by any standards. A sliver necklace brushed against him, making him eye it with curiosity. Why did he wear this? It was big and kind of tacky. Was it important to him? Did his former self like this kind of stuff? He shook his head again, forgetting about it. No use in getting all depressed about it.

Swinging his legs to the side of the bed, the springs within the mattress squeaked and made Gray flinch by the noise. He quickly swung his head toward the sleeping girl, who mumbled in her sleep.

"Gray-sama.. Do you take Juvia as your.." The bluenette murmured, making the dark haired teen blush slightly.

She was dreaming about him, again. She clearly had feelings for him, it was obvious, but Gray didn't know what he should do with that. He barely knew this girl, having only met her yesterday. No, he had known her for longer then that. He had to keep reminding himself that he had a life before he woke up yesterday morning. Had they been together? Like _together _together? He shivered at the thought, not because it made him uncomfortable, but because he felt bad. Felt bad for Juvia, who had to keep her feelings in check. Being rejected by him was probably not what she needed right now.

"Gray-sama?" Gray snapped his head back to Juvia, only to see she was fully awake now and looking at him with her captivating, blue eyes. Her brows were frowned in worry as she slit off the dresser.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Gray asked, very well knowing the answer.

The bluenette however, shook her and spoke, "not at all, Gray-sama." She smiled to him. Carefully slipping on her boots again, Juvia inched closer to Gray. Not being able to help herself from noticing Gray's bare torso, she blushed slightly and locked her gaze to the floor. Any other day, she would've ogled away, but she didn't want to make the 'new' Gray uncomfortable.

"I see, so what are you up to today?" Gray attempted at making small-talk. Somehow the atmosphere around the two was kind of awkward, so all he could do was try to make it less. What was he supposed to talk to her about? Not sharing any particular interests or hobbies with her, was making it a pretty hard task to accomplish. She looked at him for a slight second, before letting a small sigh escape her lips.

"Gray-sama, Juvia's gonna stay with you all day, help Gray-sama with his memories." She smiled and to his horror, she seemed to mean it. What did she mean by that? All day? That would become tiresome very quickly.

"Wouldn't you rather do what you normally do?" Gray asked, uneasiness in his tone. Juvia shifted on her feet, something resembling hurt showing on her face. What did he say? Something hurtful?

"That is what Juvia does every day, looks over her Gray-sama." The bluenette held a close eye to her boots, refusing to meet the ice mage's look. "Juvia wants to do whatever makes Gray-sama happy." She sighed again.

Now Gray was the one to look away embarrassed. What was with this girl? Did he really mean that much to her? Why? For what he gathered, the previous him was a douche-bag and not worthy of such feelings. It made him wonder how he had felt for her before. Did she always say stuff like that?

Grumbling for an answer, something suddenly struck his brain.

"Hey, what's with the whole 'sama' business? Do I outrank you in some way?" Gray frowned in confusion.

Juvia released a nervous laughter and took a small step back. Gray frowned in confusion. The bluenette pulled her hand to her face and scratched at her flushed cheekbone. "Juvia l-likes Gray-sama, so she.." She let the sentence die out half way through when she suddenly ducked down to the floor, her red face hidden in her hands.

Gray's eyes widened slightly in surprise and when he caught onto what had been said, his look flickered around the room, refusing to meet with the kneeling Juvia. What? She liked him? Why? And why call him 'sama' for that reason? Huh?!

"What?" His voice came out rougher than he had intended, which flinched Juvia into a standing position once again.

"Nothing!" She peeped, locked her gaze to the ceiling and shifted on her feet again. "Juvia didn't say anything, so she should be going!" The bluenette made a run for it, but without getting two feet, a larger hand locked around her wrist. She blinked down at it and then lifted her gaze to it's owner. Gray looked surprised by his own action and flinched Juvia's limb out of his grip. He frowned again, but this time without confusion.

"Just Gray." He let slip by his lips as he sighed.

Juvia stared at him, bewildered by his speed. He had managed to get out of bed and reach her within seconds. That's Gray-sama for you, she thought.

"Huh?" The confusion nested in her tone, she turned to face the ice mage.

"Call me Gray, just Gray." He smiled slightly at her face, which flamed up at his words. "The whole 'sama' thing makes me uncomfortable."

Juvia pulled her arms to her chest and blinked at Gray. "Juvia can't do that, s-she's not worthy." The water mage stuttered while closing a hand around her own wrist.

"That's not true and you know it!" Gray raised his voice slightly, not intending to get angry with her. "I may not know you all that well, but I know that you shouldn't say stuff like that about yourself!" Gray's chest clenched with inexplicable anger that he had not expected. He didn't like her talking bad about herself, a feeling that probably belonged to his past self.

Juvia frowned with worry as she twisted her fingers in her palm.

Thinking he wasn't going to get an answer out of her, Gray spoke again. "Just try."

Her fingers turning white from the pressure she put on them, the water mage chewed at her lower lip and swallowed a gathering amount of saliva. Never had she mentioned the ice mage's name without honorifics, could she do it?

"G-Gray.." Juvia mouthed out like the name was of a stranger. Gray seemed to relax slightly until she burst open and apologized. "Sama! Juvia is so sorry Gray-sama, she can't speak Gray-sama's name without honoring it!" She looked mortified by her own behavior and hugged her chest. She then quickly bowed and rushed out the room, leaving a confused and shocked Gray behind.

What was wrong with that chick?!

* * *

><p>The wind had picked up a stormy coldness and continued to howl by her ears. The girl's blonde hair gripped onto the air, making it flicker around her face. She swallowed a mouthful of spit and made a face by the sour taste. She hadn't brushed her teeth since breakfast and her inner cave screamed for a cleaning. Her brown eyes were firmly placed on the tombstone and it's four letters. She heard a sigh and flinched when she realized it was her own, she had heaved one without knowing. The boy next to her seemed oddly calm for someone in a graveyard and she envied him of his indifference. How was he this calm? How come he didn't cry or scream or brawl out of frustration?<p>

"Natsu, how do you do it?" Lucy asked, her voice almost bending. The pink haired boy looked to her from Leon's stone and sent her a confused look. His dark eyes seemed endless, like a bottomless pit.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Remain so calm."

Natsu lowered his gaze to the grass beneath his shoes. He let his feet stomp on the green organism for a while, probably thinking about his answer. Pulling his hand up to run it through his spiky hair, he finally sighed and looked to his blonde friend once again. "I'm not."

"Huh?" Lucy let slip.

"I'm not calm," he said and noticing Lucy's confused stare, he continued, "if anything, I'm furious."

Lucy did not understand what he meant and made sure to tell him that with a unknowing look. The pinkette sighed again and looked to the sky.

"I'm angry, angry with Leon, angry with the people who did this," he gestured around him, "and myself." He finished.

"Yourself?" Lucy frowned.

Natsu didn't meet her eyes, but he knew she was looking at him. He noticed that more often lately. "I can't seem to get over the fact that it's basically my fault the kid died." He balled his hands into fists. They hung tightly by his sides. Suddenly his chin got grabbed, his head turned and his cheek struck lightly. Lucy was looking at him with a feisty look in her eyes.

"Are you stupid?" She tapped his forehead with two fingers. He furrowed his brows.

"No?"

"Are you sure?" She asked, again tapping at his head, only this time closer to his temple. She let her fingers release the grip she had on his chin and stepped back a little. Being close enough to feel his breath was not helping on her concentration.

"Of course I'm sure!" Natsu sneered, cross about being insulted on his intelligence.

"Then you wouldn't be saying stupid things like that." She gave him a flat look, one which irritated him greatly.

"Che- What do you know?!" he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at her.

"I know that no one blames you for Leon's death." She felt odd saying it out loud. "And I know you don't really feel like that."

As always, she had seen right through him, which was annoying in and off itself. How did she do that?

"What about you? Don't you feel angry?!" Avoidance.

Lucy thought about the question. She turned back to looking at the tombstone and slowly blinked at it, an empty stare. Did she feel angry? No, not really.

"I feel sad."

Natsu whipped around and stared at her in worry. There she went again, making that horribly sad face, the face Natsu hated beyond belief. Sadness was not an emotion that suited Lucy, usually cheerful Lucy. She needed to cut it out. He had not expected her to continue talking.

"I can't even cry anymore, I cried when my mother died, I cried when Phantom Lord were after me, I cried about the smallest things, so why can't I cry about something this important?" She seemed lost in her own thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, Natsu let his hand slip into hers and wrap his fingers around her palm. Lucy let a small peep cross her lips in surprise. Natsu had never done something like this before. Sure, he had saved her life multiple times, but held her hand? Nope. Getting over her initial shock, she forced herself to relax and returned pressure on the fire mage's warm hand.

"We're gonna be fine, right?" She asked, lifting her gaze to the grey clouds.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Natsu reassured and gave her hand a small squeeze. "I'll make them pay Lucy, you'll see.."

The two teenagers continued to hold hands as the wind blew their hair into disorder.

* * *

><p>Keir kicked the ground in silent rage as he continued along his path. The trees around him sang their song of whistling leaves and he urged them to shut-up. If only he could get some quiet. The wind wouldn't leave him alone as his fist connected with a near standing tree.<p>

That stupid fire mage! He had to get all high and mighty, didn't he?! Why couldn't he have left it alone and apologized? Yes, Keir did realize he had riled the fiery teen up, but that didn't give him the right to insult a member of his group, no less the person who had been like a big brother to him. This case might have something to do with Keir's main objective, but he made it a personal mission not to get anymore involved with those Fairy Tail wizards.

How could he have gotten so bothered, he'd usually never go as far as to attack someone. What came over him in that moment? His boss must be disappointed by him, he thought as another fist slammed into the tree's abused bark.

_"You mean your father?"_

The voice in his head mocked him, he could feel how it laughed; _No attachments remember?_

_Silence! I don't wanna hear it! Go away!_

It was quickly getting to him and he needed to relax. Too much stress on his brain would probably result in another indecent, one like _before_.

Before he knew what he was doing, Keir let two swords of black grow out of his hands. Gripping them tightly, he began slashing away at the defenseless tree. Stabbing, ripping, cutting, again and again, over and over. The tree gave out in less than three seconds and tilted over in defeat. The clouds above rumbled slightly, warning of another storm. Keir stood suddenly still, breathing heavily from his merciless strikes on the fallen tree.

To hell with it, he thought as he kicked a branch. He let the swords dissipate into thin air and disappear. Silently, with a shaking hand, he reached up to the hair directly on top of his head. With a quick motion, he ripped a tiny hair out and pulled it down to study it.

It was black.

Panic rushed through Keir as he threw the tiny hair to the ground, only for it to be washed away with the wind. Breathing quick, shaky breaths, the teen closed his eyes and forced himself to relax.

This couldn't happen again, he needed to calm down. His silver bangs brushed past his eyelids, caught in the wind's dance. Drawing in a deep breath, he let it go with ferocity. Running a hand through his bangs, Keir opened his grey eyes once again. Eyeing the poor tree he had massacred, he somehow offered a silent apology with a small bow. He felt silly apologizing to a tree, but it had been him who'd cut it's life short. It only felt fair.

_Time to head back, _he thought.

Turning to leave, Keir cut a glimpse of something shiny in the forest's distance. Frowning confused, he turned in it's direction and squinted his eyes. Another small sparkle glittered near an unusually large tree.

A sudden sense of danger tingling in his chest, Keir ducked to the ground, just as an arrow flew over his head. Cutting a few sliver strands of Keir's hair, the arrow lodged itself in a tree behind him. That was a close call, Keir thought with wide eyes. Pushing himself up, the male went over to the impaled tree. Keir ripped out the long arrow and studied it slightly. Strong wood, sharp iron head with teeth to rip through skin and get stuck, only coming out if you damage the muscle. This was clearly meant for killing, killing humans that is. Just as the teen was thinking, another arrow made an attempt at his head and bore into the same tree when Keir moved.

Putting his speed to good use, Keir launched through the bushes, already thinking of ways to kill his attacker. A black katana formed into his outstretched hand and he gripped it tightly, forcing himself to forget his earlier usage of his powers. Coming to a stop where he was sure he had seen the sparkle from the arrow, Keir scanned the area for enemies. His danger sense tingling all around him, he sneered a curse through his teeth.

"I know you're here, so why don't you come on out?!" He called to the winds, completely sure the stranger would hear him. His silver eyes flickered around, keen on catching just the slightest movement. A branch snapped behind him and he whipped around, only to come face to face with something he had not expected. A Teenage girl, only slightly younger than himself, was standing there, pointing an arrow to his forehead. She was smiling while the stormy wind took hold of her brown hair. How had she snuck up on him? Keir was the fastest in the Guard. No one had ever managed to catch up to him, let alone sneak up behind him without him knowing.

The girl's eyes squinted slightly as she snickered, an amused chuckle more like. She looked like she had been handed a present and was stocked to open it. A look that greatly unsettled Keir. She spoke only few words.

"Target 05, located."

Then she released her arrow.

* * *

><p><em><strong>It's been two months, hasn't it? I'm a horrible human being, making you guys wait for so long. I'm really sorry!<strong>_

_**I've had writers block for the longest time. I have this other story I'm working on, which will be released at some point (Yes, it is a Fairy Tail story), but I haven't been able to write on that one either. It's horrible to have all these ideas in your head and then have no idea how to formulate them into story materiel.**_

_**Enough about that! I present to you this chapter with utmost love and appreciation for your support and patience. Thank You! I love you guys!**_

_**Sigi-san signing out!**_


	9. MoI Update

**Hey Peeps, how's it going?**

**I feel like I need to apologize to you guys..**

**It shocked me to see I haven't updated since November and That's horrible, both for you and myself. I love to write, fanfictions in particular and It pains my to see my work go neglected like this. It is unacceptable, I know.**

**The reason I'm so away right now is the stress of school and exsams building up. I have homework everyday; Essays, repports, etc. I simply don't have the time to focus on FanFiction right now, and I'm really sorry.**

**You don't have to worry though, I have no intention of dropping MoI and I will continue, but it will take more time between updates (more than it alreasy is T.T). I know, I know; But Sigi-san, we already wait for 2-3 months anyway, you're sooo slow!**

**You're right, I am slow, lazy and not worthy of such wonderful readers. I really apreciate your support! I can't imagine my FanFiction future without you guys. I hope you'll stick around with such a horrible author as me T.T**

**Thank you so much for all you've done for me! Every read, favorite and review you've given, has brightened up my everyday. Every time I doubt myself, I've gone back to read all your supporting and loving thoughts and you've saved my day, every time.**

**I love you guys and I hope you understand. Many of you will see this on your alert and think "Finally, a new chapter!". I'm really sorry if this disapoints you.. Thank you again for the support and love you've given me.**

**I will be back, I swear!**

**Stay fabulous Peeps, I love you.**

**Sigi-san.. Signing out.**


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